SINGAPORE – What has the moon and the late United States president John F. Kennedy got to do with Fencing Singapore’s Olympic dream? Everything, according to its technical director Marko Milic.
On Thursday, at its SEA and Asian Games appreciation night held at the Sentosa Golf Club, Milic told his audience the moonshot goal for the association is a podium finish at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Quoting a 1962 Kennedy speech, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”, Milic added: “This is our target and we’ll try to enhance levels across all age groups to be able to compete and win a medal for Singapore.”
In 2021, Amita Berthier and Kiria Tikanah were the first Singaporeans to qualify outright for the Tokyo Games. They bowed out in the round of 32 of the women’s individual foil and epee respectively.
James Wong and Ronald Tan did compete at the 1992 Olympics, but they did not have to go through a qualification campaign then.
The 2028 objective is “a realistic target within a realistic timeframe”, said Milic. Getting two fencers to Japan was the first step, he added.
“Then we have the Paris Games next year when we want more than two fencers to qualify and also pose better results than we did in Tokyo. After that, 2028 should be our Games where we look to medal.”
Besides Berthier, 22, and Kiria, 23, Singapore’s other top prospects are Si To Jian Tong, 20, and Elle Koh, 16. The former triumphed in the Under-20 men’s individual epee at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in March while the latter has won back-to-back SEA Games epee golds.
Financial support will also be vital for this Olympic push. On Thursday, Fencing Singapore announced wealth management enterprise Wrise Group would be its new corporate sponsor. Such funding will be used to send budding talent to Europe for training camps and competitions.
While Olympic success is the long-term goal, the priority now is to bridge the gap in Asia, noted Milic.
The squad returned empty-handed from the Sept 23-Oct 8 Hangzhou Asian Games, a stark contrast from the gold-laden campaign at May’s SEA Games. In Phnom Penh, they racked up seven golds, three silvers and six bronzes to finish as the top performing nation.
The lack of medals in China led Singapore Sport Institute chief Su Chun Wei to list fencing among the sports that must “continue to improve to be successful at the Asian Games”.
He added: “This is an important lesson for us to take back and reflect so that we can do better and train more intelligently against our competitors.”
Milic was in “full agreement” and noted: “There is a gap between Asian and SEA Games and we are aware of that. But the Asian level in fencing is as good as the world level. So if we are to start performing at the Asian level, it would mean we are getting close to our target.
“I deeply believe we are on track for that and we have a clear plan and idea in what we will do in the next few years to get there.”
