PARIS — Teenager Maximilian Maeder was hailed for his historic men's kite bronze at Paris 2024, while other national athletes were praised for their "gritty performances and indomitable fighting spirit", but there also remains room to be more "ruthless" if the Republic is to be more successful at future Olympics.
At the wrap-up press conference at the Olympic Village on Aug 10, Singapore Sport Institute chief Su Chun Wei lauded the "top-class performance" by Maximilian. The 17-year-old had delivered the country's first Olympic sailing medal and became the youngest Singaporean to win a medal at the Games.
It was also the first medal since former national swimmer Joseph Schooling won a historic gold at Rio 2016.
Su, who was joined by Singapore National Olympic Council secretary general Chris Chan and chef-de-mission Tan Wearn Haw, said: "We are immensely proud of his performance. At 17, it is very easy for us to forget that he has achieved what many of us did not not even dare to dream of at that age on the world's biggest stage.
"Being so young, the sky's the limit, and we believe he will come back stronger, continue to do what he does best, and make Singapore proud."
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There were also other bright sparks among the 23-athlete contingent, of which only sprinter Marc Louis was awarded a universality quota.
Su cited Teh Xiu Hong, who achieved Singapore shooting's best Olympics result by placing 12th in the women's 25m pistol and swimmer Gan Ching Hwee's national records in the women's 800m and 1,500m freestyle.
Badminton players Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min also performed admirably to reach the knockout rounds, while for the fencers, Kiria Tikanah beat a higher-ranked opponent to reach the last 32 of the women's individual epee round before Amita Berthier's narrow loss at the same stage to eventual silver medallist Lauren Scruggs of the United States in the women's foil.
Su said: "We are small in numbers, we punch above our weight, and fight with courage and determination. We have shown that a small nation like Singapore is able to compete with the best in the world and give them a run for their money."
However, only Maximilian came close to competing for a medal, and there were underwhelming results in some sports.
Saiyidah Aisyah finished 28th out of 32 rowers in the women's singles sculls, while equestrienne Caroline Chew's individual dressage score ranked 56 out of 60. Sprinters Shanti Pereira and Marc Louis also struggled with injury before and during the Games.
While Tan called for perspective — "to be here competing against the best is hard, to win is damn bloody hard" — Chan urged top Singapore athletes to capitalise on the one-off nature of the Olympics, as opposed to season-long tours and competitions, and take the opportunity to pull off surprises.
There were 15 Olympic debutants in the contingent, with four still teenagers. Su noted: "Yes, we need to string together the consistency and winning touch... We may not have fully done so in each of our athletes' performances.
"If you track each of their performance profiles in the last one to two years, you will see that at the regional and even Asian levels, we have overcome higher-ranked opponents. And this is exactly what we need to build on at their first Olympics, to go away with knowing how to win at the critical moment and be ruthless about it.
"They have an indomitable fighting spirit. But I agree that learning to win, the winning part takes experience, and our consolation and optimism is that our cohort of athletes here is very young.
"What is important is that the new wind for Singapore sports must catalyse cohort over cohort of new blood who are fearless and are able to dream big."
Reviews will be conducted ahead of the 2025 SEA Games and 2026 Asian Games and Tan suggested that Singapore, which does not have the talent pool depth of other bigger countries, look at future Olympic programmes and seize the opportunity to be "ahead of the curve" with niche sports like kitefoiling, and skateboarding in which its women's medallists were all 14 to 16.
He said: "We couldn't do everything, we tried to do some things. That's an important step. As a system, we learn. It's how fast we learn as well. This is high performance sports — every waking moment, there's somebody out there waiting to steal your lunch.
"In Singapore, we are starting to see more and more kids and parents willing to take that journey. That's important, it is a whole mindset shift."
A One Team Singapore celebratory parade is scheduled for Aug 14, featuring the Olympians on an open-top bus which will travel through Bayfront Avenue, Chinatown, Orchard Road, Serangoon Road and Victoria Street from 11.30am to 1pm.
Tan hopes the younger generation can be inspired by the exploits of the likes of Maximilian, and quipped: "Max is 17 today, so a nine-year-old kid today in Singapore could be a potential medallist at Brisbane 2032."
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
