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Some observers who support keeping projections internal said public targets could add to the pressure athletes already face when representing the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Public medal targets can raise the stakes in a way that goes beyond normal competitive pressure. Once an athlete is labelled a champion, the public can begin to treat winning as the only acceptable outcome,” said Ms Tao.<\/p>\n
“A loss is then framed not simply as part of sport, but as a failure.”<\/p>\n
She added that this misses the nature of high-performance sport, where results are never guaranteed and athletes can still come up against someone better on the day despite their preparations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Athletes understand that pressure comes with competing at the highest level,” said Ms Tao.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“What they should not have to carry is the weight of relentless judgment whenever they fall short of a public expectation.”<\/p>\n
Nominated Member of Parliament Kenneth Goh pointed out that each Games features a mix of experienced athletes and young debutants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those who are more seasoned competitors are generally better accustomed to handling pressure, said the associate professor at Singapore Management University and president of Singapore Aquatics.<\/span><\/p>\n “But we also have junior athletes. They are in a developmental stage, so we also want to be mindful about that.”<\/p>\n About two-thirds of Singapore’s contingent this year were making their Games debut, with an average age of 23.<\/p>\n Assoc Prof Goh believes it is important to be discerning about what is expected of athletes in different settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n He cited career athletes in the NBA, NFL and major club football, who are paid large salaries and expected by fans to perform.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that many national athletes here make personal sacrifices to train and represent Singapore while also juggling their livelihoods.<\/span><\/p>\n “When it comes to our national athletes, we are on the same side as them, so we do whatever we should be doing whatever it takes to support them,” said Assoc Prof Goh.\u00a0<\/p>\n “If that support means not putting undue pressure on public expectations, then I think that’s the right approach.”<\/p>\n However, some observers believe pressure \u2013 including from the public \u2013 is part and parcel of competing at such a high level.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Low said that even without publicly declaring targets, athletes and sports administrators would typically already have an idea of their medal prospects based on past performances and assessments of their competitors.<\/p>\n “I think they will just go down and do the best that they can. Why would it be any different (whether the goals are public or not)?” he said.<\/p>\n Mr Raymond added: “It’s not as though the pressure is (solely) on the athletes. The pressure is on all of us to back the athletes.”<\/p>\n The medal count can also help the public assess the returns on the resources invested in supporting them, he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked about the implications of Singapore not publicly setting out its medal aspirations, Mr Low said it could erode public confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n The way to manage public expectations and the pressure that comes with them is through greater transparency, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Officials could, for instance, be clear about sports that are still developing and where athletes are being sent primarily to gain valuable competitive experience, while spelling out what is expected of more established athletes in stronger disciplines.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Low said: “It’s through communication, through more communication.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS TOO MUCH? Some observers who support keeping projections internal said public targets could add to the pressure athletes already face when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--t0XOXATq--\/c_crop,h_1125,w_1999,x_1,y_1\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/09\/22\/20260922_mixed_martial_arts_snoc_lim_weixiang-3.jpg?itok=h4oOBIqo","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2027,9836,30357,321,2201,13222,19267,970,22,2853],"class_list":["post-91204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-asian","tag-expectations","tag-fared","tag-games","tag-hard","tag-medals","tag-observers","tag-progress","tag-singapore","tag-weigh","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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