Story by Edina Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports.
Wu Shu Han (#429, NYGH) on her way to winning gold in 02:35.04. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Friday, April 22, 2016 — 13-year-old Wu Shu Han of Nanyang Girls’ High took home the C Division Girls’ 800m gold at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships with a timing of 2 minutes 35.04 seconds.
The electronically-timed record for this event still stands at 02:25.76, set by Singapore Sports School alumna Lossini D/O Jeyapandiyen in 2004.
Keira Apeland of CHIJ Katong Convent and Kathya Kodikara of Cedar Girls’ Secondary came in second and third with timings of 02:35.30 and 02:39.54 respectively.
The race got off to a scattered start, with Lee Yun En from North Vista taking the lead, and speeding up to pull away from the other runners.
She maintained the lead up to the start of the second round, where she was overtaken by Shu Han, who increased her speed steadily in a bid to pull away from the rest. However, Shu Han was followed closely by Apeland.
The duo raced neck and neck till the final 100 metres where Shu Han outsprinted Apeland to narrowly win the gold barely a second ahead.
When asked about the race, Shu Han said, “It was an okay race, and I was left quite tired. I was nervous at the start of race as I knew there were many strong competitors. My start could have been faster and everyone was in front so I was afraid I would need to catch up more.
“As a result, I started sprinting earlier and tried to go faster and faster. Towards the last part when I was tired, I tried to swing my arms more.”
“I would like to thank Ms Tan, who helped me a lot and trained us at MacRitchie and Botanic Gardens. I would also like to thank my assistant coach Charmaine Oh Yan Chun, as well as my family who helped me,” she added.
C Division 800m (Girls) Results (Top 10)
1st Wu Shu Han (#429, NYGH) – 02:35.04
2nd Keira Apeland Mingan (#231, CHIJ Katong Convent) – 02:35.30
3rd Kathya Kodikara (#257, Cedar Girls’) – 02:39.54
4th Hor Tze Yin Eilis (#417, NYGH) – 02:41.17
5th Woo Ern Xi, Elsie (#428, NYGH) – 02:42.94
6th Lee Yun En (#85, North Vista) – 02:43.31
7th Toh Pei Xuan (#52, SNG) – 02:44.09
8th Nicole Lim Rui Min (#222, RGS) – 02:44.72
9th Tan Kylie (#272, Cedar Girls’) – 02:45.21
10th Norfarah Rosle (#101, SSP) – 02:45.99
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