SINGAPORE — It was supposed to be her first and only time competing at the Asian Youth Games (AYG).

Unfortunately, budding long jumper Tia Louise Rozario will not get to compete at the quadrennial multi-sports event, after next year’s edition in Jakarta was rescheduled to 2021. This was confirmed last week by the Olympic Council of Asia, after Indonesia pulled out as hosts for the event. The country will instead host the 2021 edition in Surabaya.

However, Tia, now 16, would have surpassed the age limit of 17 for the AYG by then.

The Singapore Sports School student had qualified for the AYG after winning gold at April’s South-east Asia (SEA) Youth Athletics Championship in Thailand with a new National Under-19, Youth and Junior record jump of 5.86m.

“I am definitely disappointed as I had been looking forward to it since the 2014 edition, where I was too young to compete in it,” said Tia.

“But missing competitions is part of being an athlete. I will be working towards next year’s SEA Youth Track and Field Championships and the Asean Schools Games. I missed out on the gold in the long jump at this year’s Asean Schools Games, so I will be trying my best on home ground next year.”

It is this can-do attitude that has served Tia, who is also a hurdler, well in her athletic career so far.

She has been unbeaten at the National Schools Track and Field Championships over the past three years. She won the long jump event for the third consecutive time this year, as well as her second straight gold medal in the 100m hurdles.

Indeed, her coach, Esteban Martinez, is tipping her to make an impact beyond the regional stage. “Tia is a keen learner and very teachable.”

“Based on her competition results and development progression, she will represent her country at major Games. And if she continues to have quality training over the next five to eight years, and remains healthy and injury-free, she will be able to achieve what she sets out to do.”

Tia has been able to chart her progress at regional level, thanks to the funding she gets from the EW Barker Endowment Fund, which comes under the auspices of Temasek Foundation Nurtures. The fund, which aims to nurture local talents to compete on an international level, has enabled her to compete in over 20 overseas competitions over the past three years.

For example, Tia’s record jump at the SEA Youth Athletics Championship was an improvement of 0.30m on her previous personal best of 5.56m.

“When you go overseas, there’s a high level of competition and being exposed to that is very important for an athlete to go further,” said the 1.75m-tall teenager.

“I was able to do so well at the SEA Youth Championships in part because I’ve been to that stadium (Thammasat University Sports Complex) before for a training camp, so I was familiar with the pit and the conditions, and I knew my competitors well.”

Apart from the SEA and Asian Games, Tia, who counts national hurdler and sprinter Dipna Lim-Prasad as her role model, hopes to emulate the latter and represent Singapore at the Olympics. In fact, she has set her sights on qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“My ultimate dream would be to qualify for the Olympics,” revealed Tia, who is also eyeing the national long jump record of 6.18m held by Eugenia Tan. “I’m looking at qualifying for either the 2020 or 2024 Games. I’m still developing and growing, so I still have time to build up more muscle and increase my speed.

“So reaching the Olympics depends on when I’ll peak in my athletics career, although I’ll start working towards the Tokyo Games.”