SINGAPORE — Until last year, the possibility of representing Singapore at the Olympics had never occurred to climber Mark Chan.

But this all changed last August when the International Olympic Council (IOC) announced sport climbing as one of five new sports to feature at the 2020 Olympics, along with skateboarding, baseball, surfing and karate

Now, the Springfield Secondary School student is dreaming of competing in Tokyo in three years’ time.

And Mark received a boost in his Olympic quest yesterday when he received the Singapore Olympic Foundation (SOF)-Peter Lim Scholarship at a ceremony at ITE College Central.

This is the first time sport-climbers and ice-skaters have been awarded the scholarship.

Grouped in the Under-18 High Performance category, which supports youth athletes on a high performance pathway, Mark took home S$5,000.

The 17-year-old, who trains at Kinetics Climbing, told TODAY: “It’s a massive honour to have received this scholarship.”

Eyeing a podium finish at July’s Asian Youth championship in Singapore, Mark added: “I hope to use the money to pay for more overseas competitions, sports medicine treatment and climbing equipment. I hope to qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games and the 2020 Olympics.”

Currently in its seventh edition, the scholarship — which also has Primary (S$1,000), Secondary (S$2,000) and Tertiary (S$3,000) categories — was awarded to 335 student-athletes at yesterday’s award ceremony.

Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung was the guest of honour and presented scholarships to tertiary students.

Peter Lim, SOF Chairman Ng Ser Miang and Indian Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra, who was a special guest, also presented scholarships.

Since 2010, 2,093 scholarships worth almost S$6 million have been given out. Notable recipients include Olympic champion Joseph Schooling and national sprinter Shanti Pereira.

Pei Chun Public School table tennis team captain Samuel Lau, 12, said the award will make him work harder to achieve his goal of winning medals for Singapore. “I’m going to buy equipment like a new bat.

“I want to continue improving because, one day, I hope to win gold medals for Singapore.” NOAH TAN