National hurdler Dipna Lim-Prasad retires after 17 years, plans to start family

SINGAPORE — There were no tears as national hurdler Dipna Lim-Prasad told TODAY that she is hanging up her spikes after 17 “wonderful” years that brought her triumphs, including four SEA Games medals, and pains during run-ins with Singapore Athletics’ officials.

Instead, Lim-Prasad, 27, is looking forward to her post-retirement life as she focuses on starting a family with her husband, former national sprinter Poh Seng Song, 35.

Lim-Prasad, who announced her retirement on social media on Wednesday (Dec 19), said that she had known since 2015 that she would retire after this year’s Asian Games in August. She made the decision a month after the event.

There were a number of reasons that prompted her to step away from the track, she said. These included a lack of motivation, “dramatic firefights” with officials, wanting to be financially independent and having a desire to start a family.

“This year has been quite overwhelming for me, and it’s a combination of everything,” she told TODAY.

Lim-Prasad, who also competed at the 2012 London Olympics, has been training full-time since mid-2014 with the support from her family, sponsors, as well as some campaign funding from Sport Singapore.

“I’ve had to make many sacrifices and that put a weight on my shoulders. If I’m fighting to stay motivated, I know it’s time to take a break,” she added.

“For sure, I’m sad to be retiring as I’ve identified with being an athlete for the longest time… change can be a bit scary for anyone.”

The former Singapore Sports School student-athlete has come a long way from being the “slowest runner” among her cohort to the national hurdler who went on to win four medals at the SEA Games — three silver and one bronze — and claim national records in the women’s 400m, 400m hurdles, 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

On her career that spanned over a decade, Lim-Prasad said that one of her proudest moments was bettering Singapore legend Chee Swee Lee’s 43-year national record en route to winning the 400m silver at the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur last year.

Seconds before the race, she was “terrified” as she had put a lot of pressure on herself to perform, but she tamed the butterflies in her stomach.

“It went perfectly, and I remember crossing the line, looking up at the scoreboard and seeing that I won silver — it was perfect.”

Laughing as she tried to find words to describe her long career, she turned to Poh, who suggested “colourful” — clearly a euphemism for the troubles she encountered with officials from the national sports association.

In September last year, Lim-Prasad filed a complaint against then Singapore Athletics technical director Volker Hermann, as she felt that he had been undermining her coach Luis Cunha. Two other national athletes, marathoner Soh Rui Yong and pole vaulter Rachel Yang, also lodged formal complaints against the German.

Lim-Prasad added: “It definitely contributed to my decision (to retire) as the negative experience doesn’t help. These stresses are unnecessary for any athlete.

“But I have no regrets in my career, as any missed opportunities made me more hungry.”

She intends to remain active in the sports scene here through her social enterprise In My Shoes, which redistributes sports shoes to needy youth, and through her role in the Singapore National Olympic Council’s athletes’ commission.

The youngest of four siblings, Lim-Prasad wants two children with Poh, and she could still make a return to the track as a mother in the future. Pointing to teammate Yang’s “fantastic” comeback after giving birth to her son, she said that she “may come back” if she feels she can still deliver.

Turning wistful as she recalled her time as a national athlete, Lim-Prasad said: “Overall, it’s been a wonderful 17 years. A very small percentage was negative and awful, but that happens in any aspect of life.

“I wouldn’t change anything, as everything happens for a reason. It taught me to be hungry and to fight for what I wanted.”