Cherlin Sia’s journey to pole vaulting hasn’t been easy. For the past four years, while she has been training hard, she also wondered if she was really interested in the sport. “I wasn’t really interested in pole vaulting,” she shares. “I thought of quitting all the time – I didn’t want to continue in this sport.”
Cherlin was formerly a basketball player in her primary school, but switched to track and field when she enrolled at Singapore Sports School, as basketball was not offered there.
The 16-year-old’s transition into track and field was initially a bumpy one.
But after mustering her determination and with encouragement from teachers, Cherlin pressed on and remained in the track and field team.
No roadblock too hard
Cherlin faced a roadblock in 2015, when a fall during pole vaulting practice caused her to be hospitalised for several days.
“I can’t remember much, but I think I did let go of the pole,” she says.
While it was a painful experience, Cherlin did not stop. Upon recovery, she continued to train hard and bagged the girls’ championship in pole vault at the National School Games for two consecutive years.
“I have since stopped thinking about quitting. I am very sure of my interest and it is definitely, pole vault. I want to carry on,” she recalls. “Yes, it was a tough switch, I had a slight phobia about falling again during the first training session after I recovered, but after that it was fine. The team’s encouragement rallied me on.”
After breaking the pole vault record at the National School Games, Cherlin will be making her first outing at the ASEAN Schools Games 2017.
And her aspirations for the future? “I hope to compete internationally,” she says.
