Pole vaulter Rachel Yang's Hong Kong win turns into nightmare as she and husband are stuck at airport

SINGAPORE — Less than 24 hours after winning the pole vault gold at the Hong Kong Inter-City Athletics Championships, Rachel Yang’s delight turned into confusion and frustration on Monday (June 26) after the athlete was left in limbo at the Hong Kong International Airport.

The 35-year-old and her coach David Yeo - who is also her husband - were unable to board their Singapore Airlines flight as no prior arrangements had been made for their equipment to be checked in. 

According to Yang, she was told by the airline staff that cargo on their flights out of Hong Kong is handled by a separate agent, and that advance booking was required for her pole vault poles, which were packed into a 5m-long, 23kg cylindrical case.

After missing their flight, the couple spent some six hours at the airport trying to resolve the matter with the airline and various parties, but were told that the cargo areas of the outgoing flights are full for the next few days. They also checked with other airlines to try to transport the poles home, but to no avail.

The couple’s travel arrangements to Hong Kong were made by Singapore Athletics’ (SA) sport development and performance (SDP) team, which works with a shared service provider for national sports associations.

As Yang was feeling unwell, she and Yeo checked into an airport hotel on Monday evening while they try to sort out the matter. 

Yang said this is the first time that they have run into such problems with their equipment at an airport. “Every airport is different,” she said. 

“Thailand we made payment for excess baggage, while in Taiwan you have to carry it to the cargo area yourself.

“Singapore Athletics arranged all this, and I have no idea if they checked with eSERV (the travel agent) on the arrangements. 

“When I couldn’t check in, I emailed the SDP team...they didn’t get back to me. I have no idea where the screw-up happened...SDP is responsible for making these arrangements, (so) I cannot find fault with anybody else.”

According to Yang, this is not the first time they have encountered issues while travelling overseas for competitions. 

Ahead of the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships earlier this month, the couple waited at the airport in Bangkok for two hours to be picked up by their liaison officer in what was understood to be a mix-up between the event organisers and the association. 

Yang and Yeo recently had a dispute with SA technical director Volker Hermann over youth athlete Cherlin Sia’s participation at the Thai Open. 

SA’s sport development and performance team could not be reached for comment on Monday (June 26). 

This is the latest incident to hit the association, which has been plagued by infighting and disagreements among its executive committee in recent months.

A dispute that erupted between coach Margaret Oh and Hermann two weeks ago, as well as a leaked whatsapp group chat message between the SDP team hinting at getting Oh and Yeo into trouble, prompted Sport Singapore and the Singapore National Olympic Council to intervene.

A major Games preparation committee has been formed to take over management of its SEA Games athletes ahead of the event in Kuala Lumpur in August.