S'porean skier, 22, & short track skater, 18, to represent S'pore at FISU Winter Games in Italy

Two young athletes — Faiz Basha, 22, a national skier, and Amelia Chua, 18, a national short track skater — will soon make history for Singapore at the FISU Winter Games this January.

Renowned for being the largest international winter multi-sport event with over 2,500 student-athletes from over 50 countries, the biennial FISU Winter Games will be held in Torino, Italy from Jan. 13 to 23, 2025.

Faiz will be the first to represent Singapore in snow sports at the FISU Winter Games.

Meanwhile, Chua will be the first Singaporean female short track skater at the games.

In a joint statement published on Jan. 7, the Singapore Ice Skating Association (SISA) and Singapore Ski and Snowboard Association (SSSA) shared that both athletes were "looking forward to racing on snow and ice in Torino".

First snow sports athlete to compete at FISU Winter Games

Faiz is currently a undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.

Since completing his national service in 2023, Faiz headed back for the slopes and achieved his first-ever top five placing at an International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) event in July 2024.

Apart from skiing on snow, Faiz also clinched a bronze medal finish at the British University Dryslope Championships 2024 Individuals GS and placed second as a team as well.

Photo from @faizthegatebasher/Instagram

First female Singaporean to compete at FISU Winter Games

Chua, who is reading law at the University of Nottingham in the UK, will be the first female Singaporean athlete competing at the winter games.

In the first half of 2024, Chua represented Singapore at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Gangwon, South Korea, in January.

She also became youngest Singaporean female skater to qualify for and compete at the ISU Short Track World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in March 2024.

In the second half of the year, Chua won bronze at the Asia Open Trophy Jakarta, and broke two national records, most notably the national Junior A record for 500 metres that had not been broken since 2016.

She now holds 14 national records under her belt.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Team Singapore (@teamsingapore)

Flying the flag high

Short track skater Matthew Mak had previously represented Singapore in the games in 2015. He was the first Singaporean to do so.

“It has been 10 years since Singapore was first represented at the FISU Winter Games through short track. I’m glad our short track skater Amelia, together with her Team Singapore teammate Faiz, will be flying the Singapore flag once again at the Games," said Alison Chan, President of SISA

President of the Singapore University Sports Council (SUSC) Ng Woon Yang shared that they were "thrilled" to support two athletes in their respective endeavours.

"This is the first FISU World University Games that will see Singapore represented in both snow and ice sports. [...] The games are a perfect opportunity for student-athletes to experience cultural exchange through sport, and benefit from friendship and cooperation with other like-minded young athletes from different countries and backgrounds. We trust that Faiz and Amelia will have a productive and meaningful time at the Games.”

Top image from @iceskater2710/Instagram and Faiz Basha