Tan Howe Liang, (; 5 May 1933 – 3 December 2024) was a Singaporean

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

who was the first Singaporean to win an

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medal. He did so in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

in Rome where he won the

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in the lightweight category. Tan also broke the oldest-standing world record in the lightweight category in the

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

in 1958. He was the only Singaporean Olympic medalist until the

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Early life

Tan was born on 5 May 1933, in Swatow, China, where he was the third of eight siblings. When he was four years old, he emigrated with his family to settle in Singapore, where he grew up in Chinatown. Tan's Teochew father died when Tan was 14. Tan left school after his first year at a

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Weightlifting career

Tan's

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

career started when he walked past the World Amusement Park and witnessed his first weightlifting competition and became interested in the sport. After one year of training on his own, Tan, then 20, won national junior and senior championship in the lightweight division in 1953. Without any financial support, Tan worked as a clerk at Cathay Organisation and also as a mechanic to pay for his training. Despite the hardships, Tan continued his training. During the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

, in an attempt to lift 241.75 pounds in the press, Tan fainted after lifting up the bar. After he was revived without injuries, he was advised to retire by the team manager, but refused. He went on to lift 220.75 pounds for the snatch and 314 pounds for the clean and jerk to earn ninth place. In 1958, Tan established a world record with a lift of 347 pounds in the jerk for the lightweight division at the 6th British Empire and Commonwealth Games (now known as the

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), in

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. He also won a gold at the 3rd Asian Games in

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that year. In 1959, Tan won a gold medal at the inaugural Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (now known as the Southeast Asian Games) in

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. On 8 September 1960, Tan made another attempt at the Olympics in Rome. In the lightweight category (60–67.5 kg) competition held at the Palazzetto dello Sport, the gold medal was won by Russia's Viktor Bushuev by breaking the world record. Tan had to compete with

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's Abdul Wahid Aziz for the silver medal. Tan who had one final lift, the clean and jerk, left when he felt pain in his legs. He was advised by the doctors to receive treatment at the Athlete's Village but to do that he would have had to withdraw from the competition and lose the silver medal. Tan refused to go for treatment and continued to compete. Tan lifted a total of 380 kg and won the silver medal.

Life after the Olympics

Tan tried to run a restaurant business but was unsuccessful. He worked as a taxicab driver for a short stint and in 1974 becoming a weightlifting coach. After his retirement from competition, Tan was hired as a gym supervisor by the Singapore Sports Council at the Kallang Family ClubFit in November 1982. Tan died on 3 December 2024, at the age of 91.

Honours

TanHoweLiang-TeamSingapore-2008SummerOlympics-20080825

Tan's Olympic medal made him the only Singaporean to have won a medal at all the major international games – the SEAP Games (predecessor of the SEA Games), the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

, the

, and the

for 48 years. He also became the first weightlifter in the world to be awarded the International Weightlifting Federation (national honour) Gold Award in 1984. In Singapore, Tan was the only athlete to be bestowed the '' Pingat Jasa Gemilang'' (Meritorious Service Medal) at the National Day awards in 1962. On 26 June 1996, a commemorative medallion set by the Singapore Mint was launched to celebrate the 1996 Olympic Games at

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. It features Tan on one side of the medallion, showing him getting ready to lift weights. When the image is tilted to a certain angle, the picture would show him having lifted the weights. Izzy, the official mascot of the Atlanta Olympics, is featured as a three-dimensional image on the other side of the medallion. In 1999, Tan was nominated for the "Spirit of the Century" award. In the same year, he was also nominated for "Singapore's Greatest Athlete" award, but conceded the award to former

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champion, Wong Peng Soon, who was a four-time winner in the All England Open Badminton Championships in the 1950s. Tan was featured in

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's "Millennium" series on Singapore sporting greats in 1999. In 2000,

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Achievements

References

External links

* *
Tan Howe Liang at Singapore Infopedia
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Howe Liang 1933 births 2024 deaths Olympic silver medalists for Singapore Olympic weightlifters for Singapore Olympic weightlifters for Malaysia Singaporean people of Teochew descent People from Shantou Chinese emigrants to Singapore Weightlifters at the 1956 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1960 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Singapore Weightlifters at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games World record setters in weightlifting Olympic medalists in weightlifting Asian Games medalists in weightlifting Weightlifters at the 1958 Asian Games Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang Singaporean male weightlifters Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Singapore Medalists at the 1958 Asian Games SEA Games medalists in weightlifting SEA Games gold medalists for Singapore Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting