SINGAPORE — It has been an issue of much debate and contention, but after close to a week of discussions, the newly elected Singapore Athletics (SA) management committee have decided to nominate sprinter Timothee Yap for the sole men’s wildcard spot for the Rio Olympics.

TODAY understands that SA submitted Yap’s name to the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) as their top pick on Monday (July 4), while hurdler Ang Chen Xiang was nominated the reserve athlete.

A SNOC spokesperson confirmed that they had received SA’s nominations but, as of press time, was unable to reveal if the athletes have been approved by the selection committee.

Wildcard entries are granted to countries that do not have athletes qualifying on merit for the Olympics. While female marathoner Neo Jie Shi managed to qualify for the Olympics by finishing in the top 10 in the women’s event at the 2015 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore last December, no male athlete had managed to do the same in their respective disciplines.

Although the likes of marathoner Soh Rui Yong, Ang and fellow sprinter Zubin Percy Muncherji were in the running for the wildcard spot, Yap ultimately emerged the clear frontrunner after posting a personal best time of 10.62s in the 100m at the San Antonio International Meet on June 20. The qualifying time for the men’s Olympic 100m race stands at 10.16s.

Yap’s nomination also came following recent tweaks made to SA’s selection criteria. The previous benchmarks, which were decided by the previous management committee, took into consideration national record breakers and SEA Games results.

However, the new selection criteria, which was decided by the current SA committee, took reference from the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) points system instead.

Athletes who have been to past Olympic Games via a wildcard were also not eligible for the wildcard spot.

Former SA vice-president (training and selection) C Kunalan told TODAY that while he expects certain athletes to be unhappy with the selection criteria used, Yap was still the most deserving candidate regardless.

“No matter what you decide, whether to go with the original criteria or set a new one, somebody is going to feel hard done by,” said Kunalan, a former national sprinter.

“I came up with a fresh set of criteria a month ago, which I thought would select the best athlete for the wildcard and presented it to the new management committee. The criteria are percentage off the qualifying mark, percentage off the Olympics’ qualifying time, and just using IAAF points. Based on these three (aspects), Timothee is the best (candidate).” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ADELENE WONG