TEONG'S HUGE LESSON

After tumultuous year with suspension and injury, 50m fly silver is redemption

- Rohit Brijnath

HANGZHOU - Teong Tzen Wei is sitting shirtless on his couch at home and looking around. Where could it be? It's only been two days since he's been back from Hangzhou and he's unsure of the location of his Asian Games silver medal in the 50m butterfly.

"I don't know," he drawls. "I think it's in my luggage or somewhere." But athletes don't need to see a medal, for they know what it took to win it. They know the medal isn't for 23.34 seconds of work but for the longer expedition to get there.

"I'll probably put it in my gym," he says. "So others can have a look and be inspired." It's a generous idea, for this medal isn't like other medals. It has its own tale of a young man roughedup by injury, defeat and the choices he made in a testing year. In September 2022, Teong admitted to consuming controlled drugs overseas, resulting in public scrutiny, a fine and a month's suspension. His life dipped and his swimming faltered and so this is a medal of redemption and renewal.

"It taught me a huge lesson," says the candid Teong of the controversy he endured. "As independent as one can be, the actions that we do have huge implications on others around us. Like my mum, my dad, my girlfriend, all were dragged into this emotional roller coaster. Maybe I cut a few years off their life and gave them more white hair.

"I used to think, I'm just an athlete, I'm doing my own thing. But I came to the realisation that maybe, yah, I'm on the news, people cheer for me, I carried the Singapore flag. There is a certain responsibility that you have to uphold."