Athletics' wildcard decision expected today
Words have been exchanged, firms stances taken and some toes trampled on.
The question of who deserves to get the athletics wildcard slot to fly the Republic's flag at next month's Olympic Games in Rio has witnessed much debate.
While a line was expected to be drawn in the sand yesterday, Singapore Athletics (SA) declined to reveal the name it has decided on.
Newly elected SA president Ho Mun Cheong told The New Paper that a name has been submitted to the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) for "final approval", and the association will decline comment till after ratification.
The SNOC confirmed that it has received SA's nomination, and is expected to reveal the name today.
Two spots - one male, one female - are given to countries that have no representatives who qualify for the Olympics on merit.
Female marathoner Neo Jie Shi has made the cut for Rio de Janeiro, leaving only the men's spot to be decided.
Prior to Ho being elected to the position of SA president, the previous management had decided to step away from utilising the International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) official scoring table, as its criteria for selection, because it tends to favour sprinters.
Male sprinters - Poh Seng Song (2004), Calvin Kang (2008) and Gary Yeo (2012) - have been awarded the wildcard at the last three Olympiads.
The old SA management opted instead to use performances at last year's SEA Games as a benchmark, along with recent performance that set new national records.
This has been the crux of the wildcard debate and it is believed that, under Ho's watch, the SA has once again turned to the IAAF points as a platform to come to a decision yesterday.
Edmund Sim (20km race-walking national record holder), Ang Chen Xiang (110m hurdles record holder), Zubin Muncherji (400m record holder), Timothee Yap (100m sprinter) and Soh Rui Yong (10,000m record holder) are in the mix but, with the IAAF point system giving sprinters an edge, Yap and Ang are believed to be the front-runners for the wildcard slot.
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