Just as Joseph Schooling broke new ground for Singapore in swimming, and Nathan Hartono brought down the house in China, a group of amazing young women – teenagers actually – just clinched glory on the international stage. Here’s a brief rundown of their impressive performances.
Kyra Poh
Kyra Poh may be just 14, but she’s literally a high-flying athlete, winning a gold medal for indoor skydiving at the Federation Aeronautique Internationale World Cup of Indoor Skydiving held in Warsaw this year.
Wearing a jet-black flightsuit, Kyra spun her way to victory, with 63.3 points after nine rounds, the highest number, ahead of her nearest Austrian competitors.
Significantly, during her performance, she lost her shoe by accident, but still finished the routine thanks to her mom cheering beside her. She hopes her victory would heighten the profile of indoor skydiving in Singapore and that she would even represent Singapore again if indoor skydiving becomes accepted in the Olympic Games.
Natalie Ong
Having shattered expectations at her audition round of X Factor Australia 2016 (a performance not to be missed), 15-year old Natalie Ong wowed the judges again with Etta James “I’d Rather Go Blind”, in a virtuosic performance of heart-wrenching range and intensity.
Judge Adam Lambert (of American Idol fame) was so impressed, he lost it – a shoe that is – he tossed it on stage as his stamp of approval. Needless to say, Australia will be hearing from her again in the next episode (and she might even perform in her birth country, Singapore).
Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School
This year, the annual World Robot Games – held in Indonesia – saw a group of 10 students from the Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (PLMGS) compete in what was traditionally seen as a ‘boy’s game’. They were also the only team to represent Singapore.
Pitted against over 300 boys from all over Asia, the girls not only rose to the challenge, but aced the competition by cinching 15 awards across 34 categories over 4 days – not an easy feat considering the group was formed less than a year ago, and most of the members had no clue about robotics when they first joined.
The team created 3 types of robots for the disaster recovery theme of the competition. Their plan wasn’t without hiccups, but they persevered late into the night to reconfigure their robots for the unexpected sloped competition track. In addition to three gold awards, two silvers and two bronzes, they also won eight performance awards, plus a spirit award for showmanship and perseverance.
Those were some amazing performances in a space of a few months, a good portent of things to come for Singapore’s young talents.
