feature | aSean
At 59 years old – an age where most athletes,
able-bodied or otherwise, have long retired
from sports – Kalai Vanen is still powering on.
The powerlifter, who lost his left leg to cancer
at 29, will be competing in the Paralympic
iteration of the upcoming Games as one of its
oldest competitors.
Despite picking up powerlifting just three
years ago – relatively little experience for an
Olympic-level athlete – the personal trainer
and former army officer has already swept up a
bronze from the 2015 Southeast Asian Games
and set a personal record of 156 kilograms at
this year’s Commonwealth Games. His ultimate
goal is to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
Outside the stadium, Kalai constantly
fights for recognition for para-athletes. “I’m
just hoping that sometime in the near future,
disabled athletes can get the same recognition
as the able-bodied athletes,” he says. “We are
all athletes, whether we are disabled or not. We
just compete in different sports and categories.”
right Kalai Vanen
participates in a trial
for the Singapore para
powerlifting team
Slated to run from October 6 to 13 in Jakarta are the Asian
Para Games, which typically take place after every Asiad.
We check in with one of the event’s oldest athletes
League of His Own
AGE-DEFYING ACHIEVEMENTText Lim Yong Teck