Tan Howe Liang, Singapore’s first Olympic medallist, dies aged 91

SINGAPORE: Weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, Singapore’s first Olympic medallist, died on Tuesday ( Dec 3 ) at the age of 91.

Tan won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Games, making him Singapore’s just Olympic medallist for nearly half a decade.

It would not be until 2008 in Beijing when Singapore’s women’s board golf team- Feng Tianwei, &nbsp, Li Jiawei and&nbsp, Wang Yuegu- would get the country’s second Olympic medals.

“( Tan ) was a sportsman born ahead of his time, chasing sporting glory at a time when a pre-independent, third-world Singapore paid little attention to anything other than economic progress”, read an obituary by the Singapore National Olympic Council ( SNOC).

When he was four, Tan immigrated to Singapore with his home after being born in Swatow, China, in 1933.

After watching a strongman contest, he became fascinated in exercise and began serious education in 1952.

Tan won gold at the Asian and Southeast Asian Peninsular ( SEAP ) Games in 1959 after breaking the clean and jerk world record at the Commonwealth Games in 1958.

Following his 1960 Olympic achievement, Tan would go on to earn gold at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games.

Nevertheless, he did finally retire after failing to duplicate his performance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

” Howe Liang’s progress has inspired several decades of Singaporeans”, said SNOC leader Grace Fu, who is also the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

The younger runners of his era had significantly less, but they embraced what they had and worked hard. His success in Rome demonstrates what one can accomplish if they commit themselves to it.