SEA games: Doom to boom

What is the measure of success at the South-east Asia (SEA) Games?

For the majority, quite obviously, it is the country's position on the final medal tally.

But seriously, if you add gold medals from sports such as chinloin, gasing and arnis that boost your final tally, are we being realistic about such success?

I remember watching Indonesia boosting their gold tally by 20 after making a clean sweep in wrestling at the 1979 Games in Jakarta.

Some may look at mere Olympic sports, counting finishes at compulsory sports such as athletics and swimming, and the more popular ones such as football, table tennis, badminton, diving, shooting, boxing and basketball.

Well, countries have a good reason to cheer if their athletes in these sports provide the bulk of their gold medals.

Then there are others, for whom the football gold means everything.

Because the universal game kicks off before the official start of many Games and usually ends on the penultimate day of competition.

But for me, what counts best is any performance where the athlete bounces back from true adversity.

And, to a lesser extent, those that leave an indelible mark on the Games.

On that count, I salute the performances of Dinah Chan, equestrian rider Janine Khoo, rower Saiyidah Aishah, shooter Nicole Tan, archer Chan Jing Rui, swimmer Amanda Lim, marathon runner Mok Ying Ren, silat exponent Alfian Juma'en, billiards player Peter Gilchrist and judoka Ho Han Boon.

INTERESTING TALES

Their victories came with interesting tales of doom to boom; recollections of how they trudged through potholes (injury, no funding etc) in the long road to eventual glory.

Take Dinah for instance. She was almost a wreck after an unexpected accident only three months ago, suffering broken teeth and facial injuries and enduring excruciating pain. But her determination, persistence and perseverance saw her recover from her injuries and claim the 30-kilometre individual time trial gold.

Saiyidah's was a story of self-funding on the way to gold in true amateur style in a period when professional athletes are pampered with money, endorsements and sometimes blind faith.

Janine had a similar injury worry as Dinah, the good doctor Mok's story is about personal sacrifice and countless hours of slog, and Gilchrist - the burden of defending his billiards title weighing him down - trailed, then thrilled in an exciting triumph.

Also making their marks were Dipna Lim-Prasad, the 4x100m men's relay team, Shanti Pereira, silat exponent Alfian and a clutch of swimmers, young sailors and table tennis players.

So did the water polo boys who faced the heaviest pressure because the thought of one slip breaking a 48-year winning tradition can be haunting.

With Indonesia and Thailand closing the gap on our water wonders who have won the gold at every Games since the sport's introduction in 1965, the big question every tme is: When is the stranglehold going to end?

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OTHER QUESTIONS

Other big questions also surface.

Like, how could the experienced duo of goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud and defender Safuwan Baharuddin make that big boo-boo that allowed Thailand to deny the Young Lions a place in the football final?

How could the women's hockey team - once a regional force with Asian star Melanie Martens in the fold - lose to inexperienced Myanmar for the bronze medal after having beaten the hosts in the preliminary round?

How could Olympic swimmer Tao Li slide to a bronze, finishing in the slipstream of a relatively-unknown Thai Patarawadee Kittija and compatriot Quah Ting Wen in the 200 metres butterfly?

And why oh why did discus kingpin James Wong toss himself into the throwing arena for one last hurrah at the age of 44?

To end a glorious career of nine SEA Games golds spanning 18 years with a finish outside the podium (fifth) is hard to take, tragic to watch.

The beaten champion, in reply to a question about attempting another fling in Singapore in 2015, said: "No way man. It's time to sit back and watch the young ones throw."

Sweet music that, James.

godfrey@sph.com.sg

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