SPUNKY UPSTART

Before Lim Heem Wei came along, Singaporeans knew little about their gymnastics team. The sport didn’t have the glamour of swimming, the medal-winning success of table-tennis or the mass popularity of football. But it did have a spunky upstart, one who would go on to become an Olympian.

A gymnast with a heart far bigger than her 1.50m frame could seemingly handle. And how she would tell Singaporeans about her sport. This was despite the fact that she didn’t particularly stand out when she picked up gymnastics at the age of seven while studying at Singapore Chinese Girls’ School.

What she did, however, was work harder than the rest, note her coaches. Ignoring the lack of attention on her chosen sport, she toiled quietly as a top local gymnast for a decade — away from the spotlight, in empty, cavernous halls.

The National University of Singapore business graduate didn’t know it at the time but she would become a trailblazer for local gymnastics. In 2003, people sat up when she won her first SEA Games medals — two silvers, in the team event and the balance beam. She would add three more SEA Games golds in later years.

She also represented Singapore at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Then came the big one — London 2012. Against all odds and at an age when most gymnasts would be considered past their prime, Heem Wei became the first Singaporean gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, as one of only 98 women to do so from around the world.

By then, she already had two screws inserted into her left ankle. That happened in 2009, after years of wear and tear took a toll. The injury and lengthy layoff almost forced her into retirement. Instead, three years later, she was giving her worn body — callouses, blisters, strained elbows and all — a final push.

She recalls hurting every day, even when she was not training. But she soldiered on so she could test her limit and repay the support from her coaches and family. “They have been there for me every step of the way. I always know that their efforts — behind the scene, in quiet ways — matter as much as mine. So, in my quest for London 2012, I didn’t allow myself to waver. If it didn’t work out, at least I could tell everyone I gave it a real shot.”

She did get to fulfil her dream of going to the Olympics. Ahead of the Big Moment, she — for seven hours a day almost everyday — ran, vaulted and twirled in training until her body felt like it didn’t belong to her.

In London, against more illustrious opponents from the United States, China and Russia, Heem Wei finished 45th in the qualification round of the women’s artistic competition, with a combined score of 50.799.

There would be no Olympic medal to cap her career but she had chased her dream. More importantly, she has shown other Singaporeans they can chase theirs too.