SINGAPORE – Shortly after Reedus Thurmond was announced as Singapore Athletics’ (SA) new throws coach on Oct 15, his Instagram inbox was filled with messages from local athletes asking when they could start working with him.

Heartened by the enthusiasm, Thurmond sees it as a positive sign as he begins his tenure in Singapore after spending seven years as a throws coach with the Athletics Association of Thailand.

The 46-year-old said: “That hunger and desire is what helps me want to get involved and really excited about training these kids because they’re hungry, they really want it, they really want to be great and competitive at the SEA Games level and it’s not difficult to do, they just need guidance on how to do it.”

“That’s where I think I will help them the most – it’s not just the X’s and O’s of throwing, but how to operate as an athlete,” he added.

The American takes over from previous national throws coach Akid Chong, who held the position from 2019 to early 2026.

The throws disciplines comprise shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw.

Singapore have not won a medal in a throws event at the SEA Games since 2015, when Zhang Guirong won the women’s shot put gold and Hannah Lee took bronze in the women’s discus.

Thurmond hopes to change that, but he is under no illusions about the task ahead, acknowledging the stiff competition in the region.

During his stint in Thailand, he coached some of South-east Asia’s best throwers, most notably Subenrat Insaeng, who has won the women’s discus title at every edition of the SEA Games since 2011.

She also has two silvers and two bronzes from the Asian Athletics Championships, and bagged bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.

Thurmond was also previously a throws coach at the Qatar Athletics Federation from 2013 to 2016, working with athletes like Ahmad Deeb, the 2014 Asiad men’s discus bronze medallist.

He added: “Malaysia’s really good, Thailand’s good, there are a couple other countries that are starting to come up so they’re going to have to see what’s in front of them and the work that’s involved and that’s where I can show them what we have to do to get to this level.

“We’ve got to get a little strong, a little faster, we’ve got to get a little cleaner with the technique or whatever it may be and that’s what I’m going to bring to the table for them.”

At the last SEA Games in Bangkok, the throws medals were won by Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Malaysia led the charge with four golds, three silvers and a bronze, with Thailand close behind on 3-4-2.

Meanwhile, Singapore fielded only one throws athlete – discus thrower Eric Yee.

While Thurmond hopes to get a Singaporean on the podium eventually, the initial goal is to have two athletes each in the shot put, discus and javelin events at the 2029 SEA Games on home soil, and ensure they are competitive.

Asian Games hosts Japan are the yardstick, as at the recent edition the nation fielded a representative in nearly every athletics event – only missing out on the men’s and women’s shot put. It is something SA is striving towards for the 2029 SEA Games, said its general manager Bastian Dohling.

The decision to bring Thurmond in was also inspired by the success of its national jumps programme, which started three years ago.

Led by national jumps coach and coach developer Valeri Obidko, the Republic’s athletes made breakthroughs in Thailand in 2025, taking down several long-standing records and ending decades-long medal droughts.

In the Thai capital, high jumper Kampton Kam clinched silver, the nation’s first medal in the men’s event in 30 years, while Andrew Medina’s bronze in the men’s long jump was Singapore’s first in the event since the 1983 Games.

Gabriel Lee also broke a 16-year-old national triple jump record to clinch the bronze, which was also Singapore’s first medal in the discipline since 1971.

Dohling said: “We looked at the model and said let’s achieve the same for our throws, give them opportunities and have someone to lead them to major competitions.”

SA has also strengthened its team by recruiting Ricardo Diez as its new pathway coach.

Apart from supporting athletes, the Venezuelan will oversee the development of those in combined events like the heptathlon and decathlon.

“In South-east Asia, not many athletes compete in those events so we want to change that in Singapore and inspire more Singaporeans to do that,” said Dohling.

“We also want to bridge the gap between the pathway youth athletes, grow that cohort, and get them more exposed to competitions to have a nice funnel of athletes leading into the SEA Games.”

Diez is looking to tap on his past experience in Singapore, where he spent eight years as a coach at the Singapore Sports School’s track and field academy.

“It gave me a pretty good sense and showed me that there is talent in Singapore, there are good kids to work with and there’s an environment that really when you put the pieces together, things can click and move on,” said the former Venezuelan pole vault record holder, who is a two-time South American champion.

Noting that it takes time to nurture elite athletes, the 51-year-old highlighted the need to engage with various stakeholders in the community, including the Ministry of Education, ActiveSG, schools and coaches to develop the pool of talent.

He said: “I’m not just here to coach an athlete in particular, but to build especially on the pathways; we want to engage the young kids more because the more people we can engage, the more opportunities we’ll have in achieving something in the long run.

“There are good intentions in trying to go broad in terms of not just coaching a few individuals, so we need to engage all our stakeholders to grow as a community.”