Singapore powerlifter Chloe Tang claims 3 sub-junior world records at Asian championship
Chloe Tang had just lifted 160.5kg to break the sub-junior (14-18 years old) under-57kg squat world record she so coveted, but the 18-year-old Singaporean still found herself on the brink of elimination at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship.
Failure to produce good lifts in her first two bench press attempts on Dec 11 at the Hotel Trove in Johor Bahru gave her just one final try to prevent overall disqualification.
But Tang kept her nerve and focus to register a good lift of 75kg. Not only did she stay in the competition, she went on to reclaim her sub-junior world record in deadlift (174kg) from Belgian Maeva Dero, who lifted 173.5kg in October.
Her total of 409.5kg also gave her a third world record at the meet as she improved on her own mark of 408kg set at the World Classic and Equipped Sub-junior and Junior Powerlifting Championships in August. The only other competitor in her category was Kazakhstan’s Bondareva Yekaterina, who posted a total of 300kg.
The Institute of Technical Education College East student, who picked up the sport at the end of 2022, admitted that the bench press was the most nerve-racking.
She said: “I had attempted to break the squat world record twice before but could not, and I felt quite disheartened then. But now that I have finally broken it, it feels unreal and amazing.
“The biggest credit for overcoming my nerves goes to my coach. He encouraged me and calmed me down tremendously. That helped me reframe my mind to stop thinking of the worst possible outcome, but think of how a good lift can happen.”
Powerlifting Singapore’s director of coach and athlete development Wesley Foo, who is also the head coach of Singapore’s sub-junior and junior contingent, said that Tang’s strongest attribute was her single-mindedness.
He added: “She was absolutely disciplined and focused at the competition. She knew the pressure was there for her to perform but she did not allow that to distract her.”
With Singapore fielding its largest-ever contingent of 57 athletes at the championships, several joined Tang in the record books.
Shermaine Yong, 18, was successful in her final attempt of 170.5kg to better Japanese Yu Nomura’s 2018 sub-junior Under-63kg mark of 170kg.
Faith Tan, 20, lifted 145.5kg for for a 2018 junior (19-23 years old) Under-47kg record, while Chan Day Yun, 24, improved on her own junior Under-57kg mark of 175.5kg by an impressive eight kilos.
Powerlifting Singapore general secretary Kang Goo Young said: “Our athletes have proven their mettle this year and we have selected the strongest athletes to represent Singapore at the Asian championship. We are confident of good scores at the team level and breaking personal records at the meet.”
The competition runs till Dec 18.
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