Singapore’s Amanda Yap sixth in Artistic Gymnastics World Championships final

“The first part of my routine I was still quite nervous.. trying to keep myself calm the whole way through. And I think overall, it was pretty okay. And I was very happy with my performance.”

Her senior debut at the world championships was made more challenging by a hectic schedule, as she is currently sitting for her O-level examinations.

On Oct 20, she took part in the balance beam qualification and flew back to Singapore the following afternoon for an O-level mathematics Paper 1 exam on Oct 22. After earning a historic berth at the championships – she is the first local gymnast to qualify for the final – she returned to Indonesia on Oct 25 right after taking another exam.

“It was quite crazy. I had exams just three, four hours ago, and I was still in Singapore. There were a lot of things going on”, said Amanda, who is flying back home on Oct 26 morning to continue with her exams the day after.

While the pressure of juggling a major competition with the O-levels can be stressful for athletes, that was not the case for Amanda.

She added: “It was a positive thing, in a way, because I didn’t have to focus so much. Instead of stressing over one thing, it was spread out, and I had time to think about the two different things that I had to do.”

She also savoured the experience of meeting some of the world’s best gymnasts, including her idol, Canada’s three-time Commonwealth Games champion Elsabeth Black, whom she noted was “really sweet” and “gave me lots of encouragement”.

“Being around all these big names is an accomplishment in itself, so I was really thankful for that. Watching them perform right in front of my eyes was very cool, so I learned a lot from them,” she said.

She is hopeful the lessons from Jakarta will help in her quest for a podium spot at the Thailand SEA Games in December, noting that “a beam medal would be the goal”.

And success on a bigger stage – the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan – is another goal, after the teenager placed third among the region’s gymnasts in the balance beam at the world championships.

She said: “I feel like it’s definitely shown me that I can do better than I expect. I really hope to be able to show my best self again next year. It’s given me the confidence to do better because now I know at least where I stand.”