SEA Games: No golds but speed skaters have done well, says ice-skating chief Chong

KUALA LUMPUR — They may have fallen short of winning gold at this year’s South-East Asian (SEA) Games, but Singapore’s speed-skaters can still hold their heads high, says Singapore Ice Skating Association (SISA) president Sonja Chong after winning four silver medals and a bronze out of the six events at the Games.

All four silver medals came on Wednesday (Aug 30) – the final day of the Games’ speed-skating competition – at the Malaysia National Ice Skating Stadium (Myniss), with Singapore finishing runners-up in the men’s and women’s 1,000m race, as well as the men’s and women’s 3,000m team relays.

Lucas Ng and Cheyenne Goh were second in their respective 1,000m races before being part of their teams that also finished second in the 3,000m relays.

While Chong admitted that the speed-skating squad had hoped to win at least a gold at this Games which was featuring winter sports for the first time, she was still pleased with how her skaters had performed, and believes their medal haul will provide a good foundation for the sport to grow in Singapore.

“We had expected more, but the action and the races were very intense these past two days…there were surprises and upsets, but I think all the skaters gave everything they got,” said Chong.

“So I’m happy (with the results)…we’re going to build on this momentum and hopefully the sport will grow even more. 

“We have a lot of young developmental skaters, who we’ll hopefully see at the next edition (of the Games).”

Chong added that SISA’s plan going forward will be to build their base of athletes by having a more vibrant skating scene at the schools level.

“We have to get more young skaters in to join the sport so that it can continue to grow in Singapore,” explained Chong. 

“One of our big plans now is to go into schools (to get more children skating). We’ll try to get an inter-school (competition) going, and this will help us grow our base of skaters here.”

Singapore’s most bemedalled speed-skater was Ng, who also won a bronze in the 500m on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old was a strong contender for gold after basing himself in South Korea since last October to train with an elite group of skaters, but it was revealed on Wednesday that he was competing at the Games just 10 days after having surgery on his hand following a training accident.

However, Ng refused to blame his injury for being unable to achieve his target of winning gold.

“I tried to tell myself that the injury did not affect me,” said Ng. 

“I didn’t want to let it stop me from skating more or from working as hard, but maybe my body was reacting on its own. 

“Mentally though, I just took it as if I’m not injured and raced as per normal, so I wouldn’t say it was an obstacle for me.

“But there definitely is disappointment (from this SEA Games) because I felt I could have gone faster and achieved a better result. 

“I guess it comes with experience...we need to train harder and get more exposure competing overseas and at an international level.”