From Football To Track To New Mark

Singaporean-Swedish sprinter Hugo breaks national 200m indoor record in Gothenburg

- Kimberly Kwek

When Hugo Kjellander's footballing pursuits hit a snag in 2020, the budding young player turned to the track.

Then only 12, he was playing for a club in Sweden but, after losing many players, they were unable to compete in the local football leagues.

It was around the same time that Hugo, who has Singaporean and Swedish citizenship, discovered his passion for athletics after taking part in an inter-school competition.

What started as a fun challenge for Hugo and his classmates turned out to be the catalyst for the next chapter of his sporting journey.

At the meet, which involved close to 100 runners from schools in the Swedish city Malmo, he competed in the 60m sprint, clocking the second-fastest time in the preliminary race and finishing fourth in the final.

Five years later, his decision to switch to the track paid off as on Feb 15, the 17-year-old rewrote the Singapore 200m indoor national record with a 22.19-second effort at the Bannister Winter Classic in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The previous mark of 22.60sec was set by Zubin Muncherji in 2018.

His timing placed him first in the B final ahead of Rafael Tejada de Leon, who clocked 22.53sec.