Jeevaneesh (NUS #176) leads the front running pack of Chilton Ong (NP #52) and Fang Jianyong (NUS #156) early in the 5000m race. Chilton Ong eventually won with a final lap kick, with Jeevaneesh second. Jianyong was third. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Saturday, January 14, 2017 — Chilton Ong, 20, of Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) outlasted Jeevaneesh s/o Soundararajah, 24, of the National University of Singapore (NUS) to win the 5000m gold at the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Track and Field Championships.
Ong came home first in a time of 15 minutes 31.69 seconds to win his first ever IVP gold.
“To be honest, I’m still in a state of euphoria that I managed to achieve such a timing!” said Chilton. “All thanks to my coach G. Elangovan’s training programme to work on strengthening during off-season so as to be physically prepared for the various workouts he would plan for me. And also big, big thanks for the tremendous support and encouragement received from my loved ones and teammates.”
Jeevaneesh finished second in 15:46.95 while Fang Jianyong, 28, also of NUS, was third in 16:51.14. The IVP 5000m record is 15:06.90 and was set in 1993 by N. Ganesan, then of NP.
Both Jeevaneesh and Fang had represented Singapore at the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. Jeevaneesh had competed in the 5000m while Fang raced in the 800m.
Jeevaneesh, whose PB is 15:41.33, set the early pace, with Chilton and Jianyong following closely.
“I didnt really have a specific race plan, but all I did thought about was to try to hang on to the leading pack and see how I would feel during the race,” recalled Chilton.
As Jianyong fell out of contention, it came down to a race between Jeevaneesh and Chilton as they took turns to take the lead in the last five laps.
On the final lap, Chilton shifted up a gear, pulling away from Jeevaneesh to win gold.
“My main target was just to improve my personal best timing to boost my confidence for Saturday’s IVP 3000m Steeplechase race,” said Chilton.
Chilton also won the Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) 5000m gold back in November 2016 with a time of 16:11.49.
At the 2016 IVP edition, Chilton had clocked 16:40.82, which means he has shaved off almost 69 seconds for his 5000m time in one year.
He also ran the third-fastest 3000m Steeplechase time since 2010 at the November 2016 POL-ITE Championships, clocking 9:51.42.
“My main aim of this season is to finish it on a high-note at the IVP Games, since it’s my final year at NP. I hope to continue from what I have built last year. I feel that there is still a lot for me to learn from the more experienced athletes who are able to perform consistently over the years,” said Chilton.
IVP 5000m Results (Top 8)
1st Chilton Ong (#52, NP) – 15:31.69
2nd Jeevaneesh s/o Soundararajah (#176, NUS) – 15:46.95
3rd Fang Jian Yong (#156, NUS) Fang, Jian Yong – 16:51.14
4th Burton He (#295, SIM) – 16:54.11
5th Zorndrix Dass (#91, NTU) – 16:59.08
6th Dhashman Thangavelu (#214, NYP) – 17:23.46
7th Sherman Lim Jun Yan (#49, NP) – 17:29.14
8th Lester Tan Wen De (#110, NTU) – 18:10.23
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