Lim dedicates medal to grandparents

INCHEON — He made history on Saturday by becoming the first Singapore fencer to win a medal at the Asian Games, gave his post-match interviews, and was congratulated by two Singapore ministers and everyone associated with Team Singapore at the Goyang Gymnasium.

But all Lim Wei Wen, 29, wanted was to go home to show off his medal to his grandparents, especially his grandmother who has been bedridden since suffering a stroke two years ago.

In a quiet moment up in the stands after the moment had sunk in, Lim revealed his maternal grandparents had raised him and while his 68-year-old grandmother can no longer speak, she would be overjoyed when he shows her the bronze medal when he gets home on Sunday.

“It’s not something I talk about,” he said of his estrangement with his parents. “And I actually took a year off fencing when grandma had her stroke. My grandpa and I took turns to take care of her, even now. But the lure of fencing was too great for me to stay away, and I really want to get home and show them the medal.”

That Lim would win a medal was confirmed after he beat Hong Kong’s Nicola Lu in the quarter-finals, and to have a shot at gold would mean getting past South Korea’s Jung Jin-sun, an epeeist who can boast of medals at the Olympics and the World Championships, apart from being a former Asian Games champion (team).

While Lim opened the scoring against Jung, the latter’s reply of five unanswered points set the tone for the Singaporean’s 15-5 loss.

Despite the loss, Lim chose to take inspiration from his performance.

“I don’t want to stop here, I want to do even better and let Singaporeans know we need support, we are not fighting this alone,” he said, as Manpower Minister and Singapore National Olympic Council President Tan Chuan-Jin and Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong waited to congratulate him.

“I’ve visualised myself winning an Olympic medal, not Asian Games,” he said, hoping his achievement would unleash what he terms a “positive virus”. “Once Singaporeans see what we believe we are able to achieve, all the more they will be influenced and will pass on the virus.”

Back home, Lim’s stirring run to the semi-finals set the fencing community abuzz.

Ralf Bissdorf, fencing head coach at the Singapore Sports School (SSP) wanted to convey this message to Lim. “Tell him I am very happy for him and SSP kids are really happy and excited. At home we are very proud,” said Bissdorf in his text message to this reporter. “The WhatsApp of SSP fencers was going ballistic. They wanted to know where to watch the match, updates on the scores and were just very happy to see a senior doing well.”

For Lim, the medal was reward for all the hard work and sacrifice.

“We had to fight to come here, and badly wanted to prove ourselves,” he said. “Finally fencing can get a medal and I’m really happy. I can’t wait to go home to see my family and friends, and give everyone a big hug and tell them I love them, I love my country.”