National agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) has unveiled its largest-ever cohorts under the Sport Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship) and Sport Excellence Potential (spexPotential) programmes, marking a major push to strengthen the nation’s sporting pipeline ahead of the 2029 SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games on home soil.
A total of 247 athletes across both programmes will receive enhanced financial and developmental support this year, SportSG announced at an investiture ceremony held at the Singapore Sports School on Wednesday (April 29), attended by close to 300 athletes, family members, sports officials and corporate partners.
The spexScholarship programme, Singapore’s highest tier of athlete support, welcomed 22 new inductees, bringing the total number of spexScholars to a record 107 athletes across 30 sports.
Some notable additions include Paralympian Theresa Goh, who marked a successful transition from para swimming to shooting para sport with a gold at her ASEAN Para Games debut in the sport.
Alpine skier Faiz Basha, Singapore’s first Winter Olympian in a snow event, and hurdler Calvin Quek, who ended a 60-year wait for a Singapore men’s 400m hurdles gold medal at last December’s SEA Games, were also amongst the new inclusions.
Meanwhile, the spexPotential programme expanded significantly with 87 new athletes joining, creating the programme’s largest cohort of 140 athletes across 31 sports. The scheme is designed to nurture athletes capable of achieving success at the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games, with the long-term aim of progressing them to Asian and world-level competition.
Among the new spexPotential athletes are wushu exponent Siti Khadijah, who won Singapore’s first women’s sanda medal at the SEA Games after making the switch from Silat, taekwondo athlete Nicholas Khaw, and table tennis player Chloe Lai –who made a splash at the recent WTT Singapore Smash when she reached the quarterfinals of the women’s doubles event with partner Loy Ming Ying.
SportSG chairman Kon Yin Tong said the increasing number of athletes progressing from spexPotential to spexScholarship reflects growing confidence that sport can be a sustainable career pathway in Singapore.
“It is encouraging to see more spexPotential athletes progressing to spexScholarship this year, as this shows that more athletes are willing to commit to their sporting journey and believe that sport can be a viable career pathway. At the same time, this also demonstrates the effectiveness of the spex programmes in nurturing athletes with potential.”
The announcement also comes shortly after the formation of Sport Excellence Singapore (SpexSG) on 1 April 2026. The new entity integrates the High Performance Sport Institute, Singapore Sports School and Unleash the Roar! initiative into a single structure aimed at delivering more coordinated athlete support in areas ranging from sport science to education and career development.
In addition, five athletes received the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship, which helps national athletes balance academic pursuits with sporting commitments. Introduced in 2025, the scholarship is supported by the President’s Challenge and now has 16 recipients in total.
