Helena Wong Kar Mun (born 11 April 1988;

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

:黄嘉汶;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

: ''Huáng Jiāwèn'') is a

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, bor ...

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...

. Wong competes in the female 53 kg weight class. She debuted at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

which was held in Delhi in Oct 2010. She made history at the Games by becoming the first ever woman weightlifter to be selected by Singapore to take part in a major athletic event. She was placed 8th at the Games, her first international competition.

Early life and education

Wong is the elder of the two siblings in her family. Wong attended

Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching. History Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar ...

Toa Payoh School for her primary and secondary education. She was active in sports since young. She represented her school in judo and was a house captain in her upper secondary years. In her late teens, Wong decided to specialise in sports and in 2005, she opted to study sports at

Nanyang Polytechnic Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. History Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) was established on 1 April 1992, and enrolled its first ba ...

. Wong continued her sports specialisation into her undergraduate studies by choosing to focus in sports despite her equally keen interest towards business and economics. She gave up offers to study business and economics in Singapore's local universities and ventured overseas to study sport science in England's Loughborough University in autumn 2008. Wong graduated in June/July 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. As of August 2012, Wong is a sports lecturer with the

Institute of Technical Education The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established by the Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational ...

(ITE). She was previously ITE's scholar under their Associate cum Scholarship Scheme. Had wide support from her sister.

Sporting career

Wong took up weightlifting by chance. She joined the gym in her university to keep fit and to escape the cold of her hostel room. Wong started off self-coaching from the internet and books from June 2009 to February 2010 after being introduced to the sport by

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The orga ...

strength and conditioning coach Thomas Yule. She met Cyril Martin, a senior weightlifting coach with British Weightlifting (BWL) at the English Weightlifting Championships held at

Lilleshall Lilleshall is a village and civil parish in the county of Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Telford and Newport, on the A518, in the Telford and Wrekin borough and the Wrekin constituency. There is one school in the centre of ...

in February 2010 and started training under his guidance soon after at Atlas Workout Warehouse in

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Wong credits Martin's tutelage for her selection by the

Singapore National Olympic Council The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the Republic of Singapore. It was founded in 1947 as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC) before renaming to its curr ...

to represent Singapore at the

within a year after getting into the sport. Wong ''"didn't really believe it"'' when Singapore National Olympic Council selected her to represent the sport and the country as she was just a beginner. SNOC Secretary-General, Chris Chan remarked that, "We took note of ong'ssteady improvement and thought she would benefit from this New Delhi outing. Her participation would also give weightlifting a welcome boost as the sport enjoys a revival in Singapore." Similarly, Tom Liaw, President of Singapore Weightlifting Federation believes that weightlifters like Wong are contributing to the revival of the sport in Singapore since it was last represented in the 1986 Commonwealth Games. Liaw believes that "participation in major competitions like the Commonwealth Games is the next step to raising the profile of eightlifting in Singapore. Wong finished the Games with a total of 146 kg (Snatch:66 kg; Clean & Jerk:80 kg) "a commendable 8th" for her debut international outing. In August 2011, Wong embarked on a 3-month training stint in Zhuhai Sport Institute in

Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pear ...

, China to better prepare her for the 26th SEA Games held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in November 2011. Wong was the only representative for weightlifting and the first Singapore women to compete in weightlifting in the biennial competition. Wong faced tough competitors in the 53 kg category, meeting Thailand's top lifter and the 2008 Olympic (53 kg) champion, Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarkoon who won with a total of 205 kg. Wong finished sixth out of nine lifters, making a total of 153 kg (70 kg snatch, 83 kg clean-and-jerk). Wong had bettered her previous performance set at the

by 7 kg. She represented Singapore at the 2012 Summer Olympics, lifting 61 kg in the snatch and 73 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 134 kg. This meant she finished in 15th place.

Competitive results

References

External links

*
Official website of the Singapore National Olympic CouncilOfficial website of Team Singapore, managed by the Singapore Sports CouncilOfficial website of the Singapore Weightlifting FederationOfficial website of the Institute of Technical EducationOfficial website of Loughborough University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Helena 1988 births Living people Nanyang Polytechnic alumni Alumni of Loughborough University Singaporean female weightlifters Olympic weightlifters of Singapore Singaporean people of Chinese descent Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Singapore