Huang Liangzheng

Huang Liangzheng was a clerk and hurdler from Singapore, who later competed successfully for his home country under his local name Ng Liang Chiang. While attending the Serangoon English School, he started to practise athletics and it was only after the end of World War II, that Huang took it seriously and represented the Malayan Chinese at the 1948 National Games in Shanghai. Setting national records for China in the high and low hurdles (16.0 and 57.9, respectively) earned him a place on the Chinese team for the 1948 London Olympics (Singapore did not have a National Olympic Committee until after these Games). Competing in the 400 m hurdles, Huang was plagued by a toothache and did not advance from the heats.

In 1950, Huang represented Malaya as Ng Liang Chiang at the British Empire Games in Auckland. His greatest success came in 1951 at the first Asian Games held in New Delhi. For Singapore, Ng took gold in the 110 m hurdles and bronze in the 400 m hurdles. Later that year he set a national record of 15.1 seconds over the high hurdles. Unfortunately, Ng was not allowed to compete in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics because he had represented China in previous Games. In 1972, he became a member of the national coaching staff, and in 1992, died of throat cancer at the age of 71. Huang was inducted into Singapore’s Sports Hall of Fame and voted 16th in a list of Singapore’s top athletes of the 20th century.

Personal Best: 400H – 57.6 (1951).