PLUCK, PANACHE AND PRECISION

Taking part in the above-105kg category for the weightlifting competition at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scott Wong found his opponents way too strong and finished last. He lifted 135kg in the snatch but failed in his three 165kg clean-and-jerk attempts as Canada’s George Kobaladze hoisted his way to glory.

This wasn’t the script the ambitious young man had in mind. But this was no story of failure.Scott — with palms peppered with blisters and calluses — won the audience’s applause as he competed even though his abdominal muscles cramped up and he pulled a muscle in his lower back.

Even more so, he had already come a long way just by being in Glasgow — representing his country in a sport he picked up only months earlier. A former national discus thrower, he had re-directed his focus to weightlifting instead after a dispute over a perceived lack of support.

Tracing his remarkable journey, the medical student at the University of Manchester says, “It all started with a phone call to my track and field coach in Australia, Gus Puopolo…. I called him the night I knew I had to fund myself to the 2013 SEA Games, and I wanted to discuss dropping athletics completely to make the switch to weightlifting. It seemed slightly crazy to try and learn a new sport with the hope of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games in eight months, so I thought I would seek some advice.”

It turned out his coach was optimistic that he could do it. “He simply said, ‘Scott, remember that you need two things for success in anything — precision and panache’.” Add to these the young man’s pluck. Several months and many struggles later, he was in the last competition where he could qualify. That was at a meet in Nottingham after he had recovered enough from a back injury.

The plan was to achieve 140 kgs in the snatch and 172 kgs in the clean and jerk to get the Commonwealth Games qualifying total of 312 kgs. “But I failed at 140kgs and only lifted 135kgs in the snatch. So I needed to lift 177kgs — which was 12 kgs more than I had ever lifted in training — in three attempts. Judging from my physical condition, I decided that my plan of attack would be this: Four warm ups and blast out 177 kgs in one lift.”

It was a do-or-die effort — and he succeeded. His secret? “I simply used the mental training I had in Australia. I asked myself, ‘If my mum were trapped under this weight (177 kgs) and I had to lift it to save her, would I lift it up?’”

Of course he would. And he did. His ticket to Glasgow was secured — in a sport he had just picked up months earlier after the disappointment in a sport he had spent years on.

Looking back, Scott, who hopes to specialise in sports medicine or orthopaedics after graduation, says he has no regrets trading in his discus for barbells. “At the Commonwealth Games, I saw what the pros could achieve and that really opened my eyes. I know I still have a long way to go but I believe I will see results as long as I keep working hard and persevere,” he says.