Story by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck and Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports
Jordan Chia (#176) of Raffles Institution in action. He threw a distance of 15.60m to clinch the gold medal. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Kallang Practice Track, Friday, April 10, 2015 — Raffles Institution’s (RI) Jordan Chia was trailing Singapore Sports School’s Kang Jun Jie (#155) by seven centimetres at the end of their fifth attempts.
On his final attempt and bid to defend his title, the Secondary 4 student at RI mustered his remaining strength to power the shot to a distance of 15.60 metres.
Chia’s (#176) finish topped the field and gave him his second straight B Division shot put gold at the 56th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.
“I was quite nervous for my last throw because I’m not usually a last-throw kind of person,” said Chia (#176), who also set a new personal best with his last throw.
“Every throw is your own throw. There is no need to care about what others are doing, so I focused on every part of my throw.”
Kang (#155) eventually settled for the silver with a throw distance of 15.29m, while Hwa Chong Institution’s (HCI) Eric Yee (#570) completed the podium with a throw distance of 14.44m.
The trio, in a class of their own, separated themselves from the field early and they were the only athletes to record 14m throws in the event.
This is the fifth time that the three boys are finishing on the same podium; they finished as the top three throwers at the 2013 C Division boys’ and 2014 B Division boys’ discus and shot put events.
“Out of the three of us, Jun Jie (#155) and I have a closer relationship because we have been competing with each other since primary school and he’s always beating me,” said Chia (#176).
He added, “We’ve been together on the same podium for the past few years and have always considered ourselves as podium buddies. I think it’s good to maintain that.”
On Chia’s (#176) performance, RI throwing coach Choo Chee Kiong said, “We were all nervous and I think it’s normal to feel that way. We were actually targeting a throw distance of 15.75m so he can break the record. While he did not achieve it, he has done us all proud.”
The B Division boys’ shot put record stands at 15.74m, and it was set by HCI alumnus Cai Jia Shen, in 2008.
B Division Boys’ Shot Put Results
1st: Chia Ting Xuan, Jordan (#176, Raffles Institution) – 15.60m
2nd: Kang Jun Jie (#155, Singapore Sports School) – 15.29m
3rd: Yee Chun Wai, Eric (#570, Hwa Chong Institution) – 14.44m
4th: Jonathan Low Jun Jie (#285, Raffles Institution) – 12.91m
5th: Koh Gao Jie, Evan (#543, Hwa Chong Institution) – 12.88m
6th: Lim Jun Kai Jordan (#549, Hwa Chong Institution) – 11.76m
7th: Loh Ye-Han, Brian (#337, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 11.72m
8th: Bay Wee Chun, Donavan (#322, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 11.39m
More photos next page
[…] This is the sixth time that the three boys have finished on the same podium. They had earlier finished on the podium for the B Division boys’ shot put event. […]