SEA Games: Couple on the double

A year ago, Poh Seng Song sprang a late surprise on his sprinter girlfriend Dipna Lim-Prasad, by showing up in London a day before her Olympic debut.

So late, in fact, that she was not able to scrounge a ticket in time for him to watch her race the 100m hurdles heats in person.

But Poh would not need to watch on television when she takes to the track at Naypyidaw's Wunna Theikdi Stadium at next month's SEA Games.

After all, he will be there as a competitor himself, having decided to lace up his spikes again after a three-year hiatus from athletics.

It will mark the first time the couple, who began dating in 2008, are both in action at the same multi-sports Games, a rare distinction they share at this SEA Games with badminton's Vanessa Neo and Derek Wong.

"She's always wanted me to go to the SEA Games with her and I tried quite hard to make it happen," said Poh, who has been entered in the 200m and 4x400m.

His most recent appearance at the biennial Games was in 2009, while Lim-Prasad made her bow two years later.

"It will be special," said Lim-Prasad, who is in her final year as a sport science and management undergraduate at Nanyang Technological University.

"I'll be able to deal with my pre-race jitters better, at least - I won't have to find a very weak (mobile-network) signal to talk to him about them."

The 22-year-old will head into the 400m hurdles and 4x400m events in Naypyidaw in fine form, after setting new national marks in both the 200m and 400m hurdles last month.

While her inclusion in the Republic's SEA Games squad came as no surprise, it is her significant other's return to the track that will raise a few eyebrows.

Once Singapore's fastest schoolboy, Poh, now 30, has since earned his wings as a second officer with Singapore Airlines.

"I was already 27 and had always wanted to fly," he said of the decision to hang up his spikes in June 2010.

"Once I started my pilot training, track and field took a back seat, at least until I got my commercial licence."

Incidentally, it was his participation in the airline's internal athletics meet in May which reignited the fire in his belly.

Since then, he has found a balance between flying and training under coach Viatcheslav Vassiliev, who also trains Lim-Prasad.

"Most hotels have a gymnasium, so I plan my workouts such that I do gym work overseas and track work here," he explained.

It may not be easy but for a man whose two SEA Games medals (one silver and one bronze) to date came in the 4x100m relay, training for the 400m is a necessary step - especially after such a long time away from sprinting.

"I decided to run the 400m to build some speed endurance," he said. "With this base, maybe I'll transition back to the 100m next year, or the year after."

The more immediate target is putting in a good shift at his fifth SEA Games appearance. His season-best 200m time is 22.06sec; the bronze-medal timing at the 2011 Games is 21.46.

"I'm going there to do my best and be there for her," Poh said, motioning towards Lim-Prasad. It was a line which prompted her to label him a "sweet talker".

"You should come more often," she told this reporter. "That way, he'll be more sweet."

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