SINGAPORE – Six months ago, Raffles Institution (RI) student Garrett Chua was worried a right ankle ligament injury during training would be too high a hurdle in his athletics career.

The October setback sidelined the youngster for a few months and, when he resumed training in February, he was not sure if he could return to his best.

But on April 11, those fears proved unfounded as the 16-year-old clocked a personal best en route to retaining his B Division boys’ 110m hurdles title at the National School Games’ track and field championships.

He clocked 14.13 seconds at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium to finish ahead of teammate Daryen Ko (14.95sec), with Jayden Ng from Singapore Sport School (SSP) a distant third in 15.45sec.

Garrett said after the victory: “The injury was really bad because I couldn’t train for about three to four months. So I’m really happy to get a personal-best timing.

“The medal means a lot to me because in the previous years, I didn’t have anything to slow me down, but this year I really had to overcome this barrier and being able to run well is special to me.”

His ankle still hurts occasionally and he needed to visit a physiotherapist to ease the pain, including a session the day before the competition.

While he could not train because of the injury, Garrett focused on other aspects, such as hitting the gym to gain strength and power, and drills to hone his hurdling and running techniques.

“That helped me stay in shape, but it was definitely challenging.”

Mentally, the injury also took a toll, as he watched his peers continue training.

Said Garrett: “When it first happened, I thought I was going to recover in one or two weeks because that’s how long it took to recover from previous injuries. 

“But, as the days went by and my ankle didn’t get better, I started to worry that I wouldn’t be able to recover and compete.

“So I had to focus very hard on keeping my hopes up and training off the track.”

Garrett, who will be competing in the long jump final on April 16, said the injury has made him mentally stronger. 

“This was a really difficult period for me and to overcome that is special.”

While he felt he “could have done better” with more preparation, he was thankful for the support from those around him during the testing times.

That includes his coach Melvin Tan, who said: “I was extremely impressed with the way he… persevered through his recovery process. 

“I saw more potential in him than he thought he had. I couldn’t have asked for more from him today.”

In the B Division girls’ 100m hurdles, School of the Arts’ Anmiela Kagoro followed up on her 2023 C Division triumph to win in 15.82sec, ahead of National Junior College’s Sarah Heng (16.62sec) and Dunman High School’s Amelia Pao (16.64sec).

The 15-year-old, whose school does not offer track and field as a co-curricular activity, said: “I was really nervous at the start, I thought I was going to fall mid-race. But I calmed myself down and just did what I’ve been doing in training.”

National decathlete Lucas Fun won the A boys’ 110m hurdles gold in 14.23sec, with RI’s Reagan Song (14.56sec) and Eunoia Junior College’s Oh Sheng Kai (15.54sec) second and third respectively.

SSP student Lucas said: “It means a lot even though it’s not the timing I wanted, as I’ve never competed in sprint events at school level.”

Meanwhile, Ong Chang Zhi of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) clocked 10min 8.91sec to win the C boys’ 3,000m gold, ahead of Hwa Chong Institution’s Liu Haoyue (10:17.69) and Oliver Yap (10:30.37) of ACS(I).

After finishing fourth at the last edition, Chang Zhi said: “I’ve improved and learnt to pace myself, so it’s a huge achievement.”