Team Singapore Athletes Recognised For Outstanding Achievements at 24th SEA Games MAP Award

Team Singapore Athletes Recognised For Outstanding Achievements at 24th SEA Games MAP Award

Singapore, 31 January 2008 - Athletes, coaches, officials, partners and sponsors came together this evening for the Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP) and Team Singapore (TS) Appreciation Dinner, held at St James Power House. The event was held in recognition of Team Singapore's best gold medal showing in an away SEA Games and attaining the fifth position in medal standings, an improvement from the sixth placing in the 2005 Manila SEA Games. Gold medalists from 11 sports were rewarded with cash awards in recognition for their exceptional performance at the Games. Guest-of-Honour Mr Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Defence and President of the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), presented a total of $520,000 in cash awards at the event.

At the 24th SEA Games in Thailand from 1-15 December 2007, Singapore garnered a total of 127 medals (43 gold, 43 silver and 41 bronze). At the same time, Team Singapore also broke a total of four Games records and twelve national records in Thailand.

"Youth athletes were key contributors to the medal tally, with 47 out of the 78 athletes aged 18 years old and below bringing home a medal from the Games. I encourage our young athletes to start preparing now for the Youth Olympic Games. I also urge the NSAs and the Sports School to work together with the Singapore Sports Council to schedule our young athletes for regular competitions at high quality meets so as to raise the standards of our young athletes and help them to qualify for the Youth Olympics. With our collective effort, winning our first Olympic Youth medal may not be just a dream," said Minister Teo.

"Our athletes in Thailand managed a very handsome haul of 43 gold medals. This stands today as our best gold medal showing in an away SEA Games. My congratulations to the Chef de Mission and his team of athletes and officials." he added.

At the event, appreciation plaques were given out to sponsors and supporters of Team Singapore to thank them for their unstinting support during the 24th SEA Games. They included Singapore Totalisator Board, Singapore Pools Pte Ltd, Yonex-Sunrise, NTUC Fairprice and Nestle Singapore Pte Ltd.

Team Singapore Sports Idols 2007 Unveiled

The top 21 Team Singapore Sports Idol 2007 were also unveiled this evening as part of the MAP Award Presentation and Team Singapore Appreciation Dinner. The campaign, which started in September 2007 saw some 400 Team Singapore athletes vying for the top honours. During the two-month long campaign, Singaporeans voted for their favourite sports personalities via sms and the website. Over 150,000 votes were received.

Held biennially, the Team Singapore Sports Idols contest aims to raise the awareness of Team Singapore and rally Singaporeans to support them at major games. Making it to the Top 21 Sports Idols list includes MAP Award recipients such as Li Jiawei, Bryan Tay, Mok Ying Ren, Sarah Ng, Remy Ong and Roy Tay.

For more information on Team Singapore at the 24th SEA Games, please refer to www.teamsingapore.sg.