Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Jerald Ang/Red Sports.

Celeste Goh (#39) of Singapore Sports School as she finishes the 400m hurdles. She set a new championship record of 1:05.35 for the A Division girls’ 400 metres hurdles. (Photo 1 © Jerald Ang/Red Sports)

Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 24, 2017 — The A Division girls’ 400 metres hurdles hand-timed (HT) championship record of 1 minute 5.8 seconds had stood for more than three decades. Norishidah Mohd Ali, then of Siglap Secondary, set it back in 1984.

At the 58th National Schools Track and Field Championships two weeks ago, Singapore Sports School’s Celeste Goh finally cracked the mark, clocking 1:05.49 in the heats. It effectively also rewrote the previous electronically-timed (ET) record of 1:06.42, set by National Junior College alumnus Miriam Lee in 2002.

In the final, Celeste then lowered it further, powering home to gold in 1:05.35. Raffles Institution’s Clenyce Tan and Hwa Chong Institution’s Tan Jing Wei completed the podium, clocking personal bests of 1:07.72 and 1:10.47 respectively.

“I’m really happy that I broke my PB again after the heats,” Celeste said. “I really wanted it, and during the race I just told myself that I had to go for it, so I just pushed myself all the way.”

Celeste’s win adds to her 400m gold earlier in the championships.

When asked if she felt as nervous as she was for her 400m final, Celeste said, “Yes I was, but I kept telling myself that I had to calm down, there’s actually nothing to worry about – I’ve done my warm up, I’ve done everything I could, I just had to believe in myself, go out there and run my best.”

“So yes I was nervous, but it wasn’t as bad compared to the 400m. I was able to control my nerves better this time.”

Celeste also added that she hopes to go below the 1:05 mark for the 400m hurdles as soon as next year.

For now, she is focused on helping her SSP relay teams do well in the respective finals. A few hours after her record-breaking feat, she ran the 4x100m relay heats alongside teammates Nurul Akhira, Tia Rozario and Ismi Zakiah, qualifying third-fastest for the final.

Her 4x400m relay team go into the final as the fastest qualifier.

The relay finals are happening on April 28 at the National Stadium.

A Division Girls 400m Hurdles – Top 8
1st Celeste Goh (#39, Singapore Sports School) – 1:05.35 (NR)
2nd Clenyce Tan (#108, Raffles Institution) – 1:07.72
3rd Tan Jing Wei (#249, Hwa Chong Institution) – 1:10.47
4th Pebbles Lee Wern (#92, National Junior College) – 1:10.60
5th Britney Chia (#231, Hwa Chong Institution) – 1:11.93
6th Renee Pak (#246, Hwa Chong Institution) – 1:15.23
7th Clara Lie (#178, Victoria Junior College) – 1:20.75
8th Goh Shi Jie (#86, National Junior College) – 1:25.74

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