Lloyd Oscar Valberg (14 April 1922 – 26 March 1997) was the first person from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to compete at the Olympics when he went to the

1948 Summer Olympic Games The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

held in London, United Kingdom.

Early years

He took up the high jump when he was 17, and in 1947 he broke the Singapore record with a jump of 1.87m.

Olympic career

He qualified for the high jump final at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

where he finished 14th. Representing

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

, he finished seventh in the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

120 yards hurdles and eleventh in the high jump. He finished third in the 110 metres hurdles at the

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games ( hi, 1951 एशियाई खेल; Marathi: १९५१ आशियाई खेळ), officially known as the First Asian Games, was a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Game ...

, while representing Singapore.

Family

He was a grand-uncle to Singapore's first Olympic gold medalist,

Joseph Schooling Joseph Isaac Schooling (born 16 June 1995) is a Singaporean professional swimmer who specialises in butterfly, freestyle and medley events. He was the gold medalist in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, achieving Singapore's first ev ...

, who beat

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

in the 100m Butterfly in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. It was Lloyd who inspired Schooling to compete in the Olympics.

References

External links

* * * * 1922 births 1997 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Singapore Singaporean male high jumpers Singaporean male hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1950 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Malaya Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1951 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Singapore Medalists at the 1951 Asian Games {{Singapore-athletics-bio-stub