13-year-old Singapore girl wins Asian Games gold as sailors rake in medals
REPORTING FROM INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA
For a Secondary One student just crowned champion at the Asian Games, Jodie Lai was remarkably calm.
“I’m very happy because I won gold,” said the Singaporean sailor, cool as you like, as cameras flashed and reporters thrust phones in her face.
Lai, 13, finished clear of an eight-woman field in the optimist race Tuesday afternoon, after nearly a week of racing at the Wangsan Marina in Incheon, South Korea.
It was an especially productive day for Singapore at the Games, as the sailors yielded a total of two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals after the bowlers also struck gold in the morning.
The duo of Kimberly Lim and Savannah Siew won their 420 women's event while sisters Priscilla and Cecilia Low clinched second-place in the 29er.
Raynn Kwok was awarded a late silver in his optimist race after protesting his initial fourth-place finish. The 12-year-old is now Singapore's youngest-ever medalist at the Asian Games, displacing fellow sailor Ryan Lo who was 13 when he won bronze in the optimist event in 2010.
Delivering bronzes were Colin Cheng in the laser men's as well as the team of Loh Jia Yi and Jonathan Yeo in the 420 men's race.
But it was pint-sized Lai, standing tall at 148cm and 33kg, who stole the show with her historic win – Singapore's first-ever Asiad gold in the optimist, a beginner-level dinghy typically used to introduce children to the sport.
“I thought positive,” she said, when asked how she dealt with the challenge of a chasing pack. “If anything happens, I know I tried my best, so I won’t be that upset.”
Fellow podium toppers Lim and Siew, both 18, were equally level-headed in their post-race assessment.
“We followed our routine and stuck to what we’ve been practicing for so long,” said Lim, who partnered Siew to a gold medal in the same event at the Southeast Asian Games last year. “We spent three years in preparation for this.”
She added: “Doing what we know best and not thinking too much of the outcome – that’s what really helped us.”
There was heartbreak, however, for the Low siblings, who kicked off the day in pole position for gold – only to concede their lead to eventual champions Thailand.
“Today was a really tough day for us,” said Priscilla. “We needed to be in front of the Thais to win… but they really sailed very well, and we just didn’t do as well as they did.”
SEE ALL OF SINGAPORE'S MEDALISTS AT THE 2014 ASIAN GAMES HERE:
