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The 32-year-old PRC-born, Du Xianhui, first arrived in Singapore in 1999. She was 18 years old then, bearing high hopes after taking silver in shot put for China at the 1998 World Junior Track and Field Championships.
4 years later in 2003, she was granted Singapore Citizenship under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and started to represent Singapore.
She helped Singapore win 2 SEA Games gold medals.
However, in 2006, the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) decided to drop Du and and her compatriot, Zhang Guirong, from the Asian Games team after the pair failed to provide accurate addresses of their residences in China.
The 2 had been training in China and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) required their addresses in order to perform random out-of-competition testing.
After warning the 2 women several times, SAA’s patience finally wore through and the pair were axed from the squad. But to this day, Du continues to insist that she did provide her address.
Du then left Singapore in 2007 vowing never to return to Singapore or the competition field. She then went back to Shenyang, China to open a clothing factory. She also got married and has a five-year-old son in China.
Since then, SAA has been trying to coax her back to represent Singapore.
SAA President Tang Weng Fei said, “We persuaded her to come out of retirement. We sent our vice-presidents Chan Pew and Steven (Lee) there to speak to her. It was not easy for her, she was still very disappointed and disillusioned.”
After Steven Lee’s visit in March this year, Du decided to come out of her “retirement” and return to Singapore for training. She arrived back in Singapore last Saturday (15 Jun), her first visit since leaving Singapore 6 years ago in 2007.
Du said she was convinced to return after much persuasion by SAA officials, who are counting on her to win medals in December’s SEA Games this year, as well as in 2015 when Singapore will be hosting the SEA Games.
Du said, “When I left, I told myself that I would never come back here or return to sport. I didn’t even want to watch sports on television. There were just too many sad memories.”
“Without (SAA officials) Tang Weng Fei, Steven Lee and Loh Chan Pew, I would not have come back.”
She now averages about 15 metres in training, a far cry from her 2003 SEA Games winning mark of 18.2m. But still, even at 15m, she is likely to win medals in SEA Games. Under the Singapore Govt’s Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme, a SEA Games individual gold medallist will be awarded $10,000.
But the SAA’s decision to bring Du back could raise some eyebrows, especially since she is hoping to be based in China with her family.
Mr Tang said, “The national sports association must be equally proactive in making our athletes feel at home.”
Questions could also be asked about the benefits of investing in an athlete who is past her prime. While she may be a medal favourite at the Asean level, she is unlikely to do better on a bigger stage.
In the 2005 Asian Championships, she was 5th with 16.35m while in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she also came in 5th with 16.76m.
The SAA however, is firmly standing behind Du.
SAA Vice-President Steven Lee said that her heart is here and she is a Singaporean.
4 years later in 2003, she was granted Singapore Citizenship under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme and started to represent Singapore.
She helped Singapore win 2 SEA Games gold medals.
However, in 2006, the Singapore Athletic Association (SAA) decided to drop Du and and her compatriot, Zhang Guirong, from the Asian Games team after the pair failed to provide accurate addresses of their residences in China.
The 2 had been training in China and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) required their addresses in order to perform random out-of-competition testing.
After warning the 2 women several times, SAA’s patience finally wore through and the pair were axed from the squad. But to this day, Du continues to insist that she did provide her address.
Du then left Singapore in 2007 vowing never to return to Singapore or the competition field. She then went back to Shenyang, China to open a clothing factory. She also got married and has a five-year-old son in China.
Since then, SAA has been trying to coax her back to represent Singapore.
SAA President Tang Weng Fei said, “We persuaded her to come out of retirement. We sent our vice-presidents Chan Pew and Steven (Lee) there to speak to her. It was not easy for her, she was still very disappointed and disillusioned.”
After Steven Lee’s visit in March this year, Du decided to come out of her “retirement” and return to Singapore for training. She arrived back in Singapore last Saturday (15 Jun), her first visit since leaving Singapore 6 years ago in 2007.
Du said she was convinced to return after much persuasion by SAA officials, who are counting on her to win medals in December’s SEA Games this year, as well as in 2015 when Singapore will be hosting the SEA Games.
Du said, “When I left, I told myself that I would never come back here or return to sport. I didn’t even want to watch sports on television. There were just too many sad memories.”
“Without (SAA officials) Tang Weng Fei, Steven Lee and Loh Chan Pew, I would not have come back.”
She now averages about 15 metres in training, a far cry from her 2003 SEA Games winning mark of 18.2m. But still, even at 15m, she is likely to win medals in SEA Games. Under the Singapore Govt’s Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme, a SEA Games individual gold medallist will be awarded $10,000.
But the SAA’s decision to bring Du back could raise some eyebrows, especially since she is hoping to be based in China with her family.
Mr Tang said, “The national sports association must be equally proactive in making our athletes feel at home.”
Questions could also be asked about the benefits of investing in an athlete who is past her prime. While she may be a medal favourite at the Asean level, she is unlikely to do better on a bigger stage.
In the 2005 Asian Championships, she was 5th with 16.35m while in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she also came in 5th with 16.76m.
The SAA however, is firmly standing behind Du.
SAA Vice-President Steven Lee said that her heart is here and she is a Singaporean.
