AYG Athletics: Melissa Wu and Sean Lim deliver first two medals for Singapore

Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei and Marvin Lowe/Red Sports.

Bishan Stadium, Tuesday, June 30, 2009 – Melissa Wu leapt a distance of 4.94m for a bronze medal in the long jump to deliver Singapore’s first medal at the Asian Youth Games.

Tantragool Pennapa of Thailand and Reyma Alen Thomas of Qatar won the gold and silver medals with distances of 5.58m and 5.06m respectively.

Melissa may have gone long for the bronze medal but earlier in the day, she had started out jumping high in search of it.

She had been entered in two events – the high jump and the long jump – and both fell on the same day.

A tactical decision by Melissa’s personal coach, John Seem, helped her to a podium finish. Melissa pulled out of the high jump after clearing the height of 1.55m when her coach told her via Singapore team coach for the jumps, Valeri Obidko, to switch her focus to the long jump which was just about to take place.

Melissa shared, “I saw a greater chance in the long jump and on hindsight, it was a great decision to pull out from the high jump to focus on the long jump as it gave Singapore its first medal!”

She had initially set her sights on a top-three finish in the high jump event as well, which is her pet event.

“I was roped into track and field after doing well for the 1.6km run for the NAPFA test. It was when I joined the team that I started doing high jump,” Melissa said.

Nevertheless, it was a happy day for her and Singapore with that first bronze medal and she was asked how she was going to celebrate it.

Melissa said, “It is overwhelming. I am going to just eat and I am going to share the joy with my coach, family and friends for always motivating me.”

The officially-stated end time of the girls’ long jump was 5.58pm on the results sheet and a few minutes after that at 6.06pm, Sean Lim’s effort of 4.30m in the pole vault proved the adage true that ‘good things come in pairs’ as it earned him a bronze medal.

Hibasa Sho of Japan won the gold medal with an effort of 4.81m while Chi Chien-Hao of Chinese Taipei pipped Sean to the silver medal on count back with a similar clearance of 4.30m.

Sean had entered the competition with the height set at 4.30m and after a failed first attempt, he launched himself over the bar with a yawning space between the bar and his body at the second attempt.

His coach David Yeo commented on his protege’s second 4.30m attempt: “His 4.30m clearance was as good as a 4.50m or a 4.60m and it was not just me who thought so. Even the Japanese coach shared the same view with me.”

Alas, when the bar was raised to 4.40m, he could not clear it after three attempts (the maximum allowed) and had to bow out of the competition. Chinese Taipei athlete Chi Chien-Hao also couldn’t clear the height after three attempts but got the silver as he had cleared 4.30m with his first attempt.

After the medal presentation ceremony, Sean was asked about how he felt having got the bronze medal with a height short of his personal best and he said, “I’m definitely a bit disappointed but a medal is still a medal so I am happy.”

Sean’s personal best stands at 4.61m, which is the national under-20 record, set a month ago in May at the National Junior Track and Field Championships.

One height is reached but yet another beckons though for Sean at the World Youth Championships in a week’s time and this Asian Youth Games experience has certainly provided him with good competition to improve his vaulting.

Pole vault is not a popular discipline in track and field and as Yeo put it, it is a sport for the ‘privileged’ as the equipment are expensive and as such there is a higher barrier to entry. This has led to a very small group of proponents in pole vault and Sean has more often than not found himself at local competitions waiting for others to exit at lower heights before taking his chance.

Again, coach David Yeo shared: “Sean is what I call a one-jump king. He will wait for others to bow out at lower heights, clear a 4.40m or 4.50m then fail at the next height and pack up… so it made me think whether I made a mistake in making him enter the competition so early (at 4.30m).”

The competition ends today for both Melissa and Sean after they completed their events. But for many others, there are still greater heights and further distances to conquer. Go Singapore!