Sailing couple confident of qualifying for Tokyo 2020
If sailor Justin Liu makes it to his second Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, national pride will not be the only thing at stake.
His sail partner and girlfriend of over a decade, Denise Lim, had threatened not to marry him unless they take home the gold medal.
At a media event to unroll Fitness First's "Always a Champion" initiative at Capital Tower yesterday, the affable Lim joked: "I initially said, 'No gold medal, cannot get married'. But, okay lah, I change to just 'medal'."
Liu and Lim, both 26, finished 19th out of 20 pairs in the Nacra 17 mixed multi-hull event in the Rio Olympics last year.
They are confident of performing well enough in the three upcoming major Olympics selection trials to make it to the 2020 Games.
They will leave for Barcelona tonight, for a training camp in preparation for the European Championships at the end of this month in Germany.
Liu said: "The weather and sea conditions in Germany will be similar to Denmark (where the first of the three qualification trials will be held next July), so it's good training and preparation for us.
"We're definitely confident of qualification - after Rio, we have an idea of what to expect."
Realistically though, Liu said the target for 2020 would be to "crack the top 10".
The Republic has won four Olympic medals since Tan Howe Liang's weightlifting silver medal in 1960.
But, president of Olympians Singapore Dr Tan Eng Liang is optimistic of more to come.
The former national water polo player said: "We won one silver in 2008, two bronzes in 2012 and one gold in 2016.
"Looking at that trend, you can see the progression of the athletes' talent - in 2020, we will minimally get one more medal."
Yesterday, Fitness First, which was named the official fitness partner of the Singapore National Olympic Council in 2015, announced an initiative to honour all former Singaporean Olympians since 1948.
"Always a Champion" will see 143 former and current Singaporean Olympians get access to premium equipment and classes in over 370 Fitness First clubs globally, until the 2020 Games.
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