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......17-year-old triathlete collapsed after crossing finish line
A PROMISING 17-year-old triathlete collapsed on Sunday after he crossed the finish line in a South-east Asia Games selection trial.
He died less than two hours later.
Thaddeus Cheong, a Raffles Junior College first-year student, had just swam 1.5km, cycled 40km and ran 10km at Changi.
The national triathlete had been trying for a place in the team for December's SEA Games in Korat, Thailand.
Yesterday's trial was the first of two races to decide the four slots - two men and two women.
The next one will be the Osim Singapore International Triathlon at East Coast Park on July 29.
Eight men and three women started the race at about 6.45am at Tanah Merah Country Club's swimming pool.
Triathlon Association of Singapore senior executive and assistant national coach, Mr Jerry Seah, said Thaddeus looked 'very confident', 'very happy and ready to go', before the flag-off..........

this is just another article of misfortune and mishap...one that truly jolts his closed ones....even me, who is merely his previous schoolmate.....before his demise, I have already but have still yet to hear about his personal attainments and accolades....saw him quite frequently in school, saw him with his 'rowdy' friends, saw how athletic he was during the secondary 3 camp at pahang (always leading the cyclists [we were cycling for miles]) ....was only till today did i realise that he was made up of more than those...some of my classmates who're in RJ now did not feel the pain, they have never established or experience any form of social contact with him; some bore the full brunt of the incident to the extent of having to undergo a sleepless night only about 22 hours ago....some wanted to attend the wake twice....now that he is alive no more, there is nothing much we can offer or do, he had tried his best, he had led a fulfilled life at least......he had conquered obstacles which many did not bother to or were unable to...he is truly a one of kind...he had made his family, friends, acquaintances, relatives, even strangers proud of him....at least his goals have been realised, his achievements have been acknowledged.....all is said and done......some people may wonder with worry as to his current presence, is there such a thing called 'supernatural' ? or is it somethin which mortals will naturally assume so? it is beyond the realm of human existence........it is ok to assume, in fact, we have to assume, for the sake of sanity of humans, for the sake of the ever-lasting bond between social creatures....we are beings, we feel, we think, we interact, we keep with us memories of fond days....sadness is the result of one's inability to accept something which seemed unlikely and is unexpected....happiness is the direct contrast.......i guess humans take things too lightly, they are always expecting things to turn out according to their wishes.....death is something uncommon, very uncommon, especially among youngsters who are much fitter than the average norm .......life is very unpredictable, 'unpredictability is the only predictable thing' goes the catchprase.....life will not be spectacular and fascinating if not for unpredictability.....we learn many things......it is sad that he is unable to take the common tests, it will be even sadder for us to be psychologically affected thereafter....so, try to accept if and get on with life, not forgetting memories left behind.....