Singapore has gained a jump on Hong Kong in the race to produce elite gymnasts after a 17-year-old disaffected with her own stunted progress launched a “game-changing” training facility in the city.
Born in Hong Kong, Riley Lee quit the sport at 14, two years after she had left for Singapore.
“I was training 25 hours a week and it was the majority of my life, but it didn’t feel like I was getting the return I should,” Lee said.
“I couldn’t find the right environment [to train] … and there was a lot of fear involved because I didn’t have access to the equipment to safely practice skills.”
Still, Lee retained an obsession with the sport that began aged 3, “following every gymnast in every club in every country, looking at the environments, how they were coached and their results”.
Identifying that Hong Kong, Singapore and surrounding regions were lagging way behind traditional gymnastics powerhouses, she landed on the idea of channelling an entrepreneurial spirit that once saw her earn US$5,000 selling slime into developing the 20,000 sq ft Mokara Gymnastics Academy.