By REDintern Justin Surin
Cheryl Chan of NP crossing the finishing line first in the 800m final. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Polytechnic, Saturday, January 18, 2014 — Cheryl Chan of Ngee Ann Polytechnic won the 800m gold in a time of 2 minutes 33.86 seconds on the last day of the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships.
Nur Hamizah of the Institute of Technical Education and Neo Hoon Suan of Nanyang Technological University finished second and third with timings of 2:36.73 and 2:38.70 respectively.
The race started off with Hamizah taking the lead and setting the pace for the trailing pack. By the end of the first lap, the trio had established themselves at the front and it was clear that they were battling amongst themselves for the gold. With 250m to go, Cheryl, a former national schools champion, started her kick and drove to the finish, leaving her competitors trailing in her wake.
This was an unexpected victory for Cheryl who was concerned by the fact that she was one of the youngest runners in the field. “I felt a bit intimidated looking at the ages of the other runners before the race so I’m really satisfied with the result.” She commented. Her win here was an improvement from her second-place finish in last year’s edition.
For bronze medalist Hoon Suan, this race was more of a learning experience as it was her first time running the 800m competitively. “I tried to kick after 400m but I couldn’t last so I probably should have waited for another 100m or 200m,” she said.
800m results (Top 8)
1st Cheryl Chan (#214, NP) — 2:33.86
2nd Hamizah bte Abdul Hamid (#11, ITE) — 2:36.73
3rd Neo Hoon Suan (#128, NTU) — 2:38.70
4th Ng Michelle (#422, Temasek Polytechnic) — 2:44.41
5th Loh, Kiat Hoon (#326, SMU) — 2:46.98
6th Atiq, Syazwani (#39, NP) — 2:49.92
7th Wong Hui Shi, Alex (#92, NP) — 2:50.33
8th Tung, Kaixin Sherm (#386, SP) — 2:50.75
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