Tiger Tan

Tiger Tan did not take up weightlifting until he was in his late teens, but he won his first senior national championship as a lightweight in 1953. He first represented Singapore at the Olympics in 1956 in Melbourne, where he placed ninth overall. He had much more success in 1958, however, taking gold at both the Asian and British Empire and Commonwealth Games. At the latter, he also set a world record in the jerk portion of the competition. Thus, by the time of the 1960 Rome Games, he was considered a contender for the gold medal. Despite pain in his legs that nearly caused him to exit the tournament, he managed to capture silver, Singapore’s first Olympic medal.

Tan changed divisions to middleweight after his victory and won another gold medal at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1962. He also represented Malaysia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but placed 11th and retired shortly thereafter. During his competitive days he had worked as a mechanic, but afterwards he had a short-lived restaurant business before taking up coaching. Among his many honors, he was chosen to be among the inaugural bearers of the Olympic flag at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, which were held in Singapore.