SINGAPORE — Earning that golden ticket to the 2016 Olympics in August may have been sweet for national rower Saiyidah Aisyah but, to her, the journey towards Rio de Janeiro has been bitter, to say the least.

Yesterday, the 28-year-old wrote her name into the Singapore sporting history books by becoming the first rower from the country to qualify for the Olympic Games, after she booked the seventh and final spot in the women’s 2,000m single sculls event at the Asia and Oceania Continental Olympic Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.

Only the top seven rowers in the event will qualify for the 2016 Olympics, at the sole qualifying event for rowers in the region. These include all six rowers from the A Final — from Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Chinese-Taipei, Indonesia, Iran and South Korea — and the winner of the B Final.

Aisyah, who timed 7min 53.13s to win the six-strong B Final field, beat 2015 South-east Asian (SEA) Games gold medallist (1,000m lightweight singles sculls) Phuttaraksa Neegree from Thailand, who settled for second (7min 54.22s), and top Qatar rower Tala Aladin Abujbara (7min 55.66s).

“I still can’t believe it,” Aisyah told TODAY after her race. “It was such a close race between me and the Thai rower. It felt like the battle with every pain, every drawback, and every self-doubt was worth it.”

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu congratulated Aisyah for her feat, saying in a Facebook post: “Come August, we will get to cheer for our first ever Team Singapore rower at the Rio Olympics. Congratulations to Aisyah!”

The Olympic qualification quest for Aisyah — who first wrote history at the 2013 SEA Games by winning Singapore’s first rowing gold (2,000m lightweight singles sculls) since 1997 — has not been an easy one. Since her 2013 SEA Games triumph, Aisyah’s performance on the international stage has been nothing to shout about.

At the 2014 Asian Games, she finished last of four rowers and broke down in tears. At last September’s Asian Rowing Championships, she finished last in a field of six.

Training full-time in Sydney since last August, Aisyah has depleted all her savings to fund her Olympic dream. She took to crowdfunding in February in a bid to continue her training after she realised she did not even have enough cash to pay for her groceries. “Everyone has been so supportive really, and my Rio qualification wouldn’t have been possible without their help,” said Aisyah, who raised A$12,000 (S$12,510) from her crowdfunding campaign. “ I am surprised that many people are still willing to support me, even though my last big win was two years ago (at 2013 SEA Games).”

Her financial troubles will soon be a thing of the past. TODAY understands that Aisyah will be receiving funds from SportSG soon under its Race to Rio financial assistance programme. She has also been under the spexScholarship scheme since last month and will be receiving a monthly pay-out.

“I am never embarrassed by my financial predicaments,” she said. “I think the world ought to know what it takes to be an athlete.”