Olympics on Azra's Mind

New men's artistic gymnastics head coach also aims to increase talent pool

- Kimberly Kwek

Over the last 15 years, the Republic's female gymnasts have steadily broken new ground on the global stage, from Lim Heem Wei becoming the first Singaporean to compete at the Olympics in 2012 to Tan Sze En's participation at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Now, the men's gymnasts are looking to chart a similar path. To that end, Singapore Gymnastics has moved to strengthen the training set-up by hiring its first men's artistic gymnastics head coach - Francisco Azra - who started work in September.

In addition to securing Olympic qualification, the Brazilian will also be tasked with enhancing the gymnasts' performance at the regional, Asian and world levels, as well as increasing the talent pool.

On the Olympic ambition, Azra said: "This is both the goal and the dream. I like saying this because some people will say that dreams are things you'll never achieve, but I don't think so.

"By having a goal that you dream of, you have both the strategy and passion to go and achieve it. We will do everything in our power for this to happen in 2028, but if not, I'm sure in the next cycles, we will see a Singaporean gymnast in the Olympics."

A former gymnast who competed mainly at the national level, Azra has had coaching experience in Brazil and England, which he feels will be beneficial for his new role.