Jump to content

Kyra Poh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kyra Poh
Portrait of Kyra Poh at The Wind Games 2018
Personal information
NationalitySingaporean
Born (2002-06-08) 8 June 2002 (age 22)
Singapore
Sport
SportIndoor skydiving

Kyra Poh (born 8 June 2002;[1] Chinese: 傅诗玲; pinyin: Fù Shīlíng) is a Singaporean indoor skydiver.

Early life and education

[edit]

Kyra Poh studied visual arts in School of the Arts.[2]

Career

[edit]

Poh was introduced to indoor skydiving in 2010 when her mother was working on advertising for iFly Singapore, an indoor skydiving facility located at Sentosa, Singapore.[2][3] Poh and her friend, Choo Yi Xuan would go on to represent Singapore in competitions internationally as Team Firefly Singapore.[4] The team debuted in 2014 at the Bodyflight World Challenge, competing in "Dynamic 2-way" and "2 way Freefly - Open" events, and was placed fifth in the open event.[5]

In 2017, Poh took the gold medal in the solo speed category at the Wind Games, riding wind at speed of 230 km/h in a wind tunnel. For that, she was acknowledged as 'the world's fastest flyer'.[6][7]

In 2018, Poh fractured her rib while jumping for an outdoor skydiving license.[8] This delayed her from getting the license until in 2020, when she completed the course.[9]

Her training for indoor skydiving was interrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore, when the 2020–21 Singapore circuit breaker measures prevented her and fellow athletes from using the wind tunnel facility at iFly Singapore until June 2021 when the lockdown measures began to loosen up.[10][11]

In 2022, Poh was given a national-level sports scholarship that usually given to athletes participating the mainstream sports, thus becoming the first niche sports athlete to be awarded.[12]

Achievements

[edit]
Year Competition Venue Event Position Notes
2014 Bodyflight World Challenge Bedford, United Kingdom Dynamic 2-way iFly Singapore 1[5]
2015 Inflight Dubai – Clash of Champions Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dynamic 2-way Team Firefly Singapore[13]
2015 Inflight Dubai – Clash of Champions Dubai, United Arab Emirates 4-way Formation Team Skyblockers[13]
2016 Bodyflight World Challenge Bedfordshire, England Team Firefly Singapore[14]
2016 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Warsaw, Poland junior freestyle 63.3 points[15][16]
2016 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships Freestyle open [17]
2017 Wind Games Catalonia, Spain solo speed [6]
2017 Wind Games Catalonia, Spain freestyle [6]
2017 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships Freestyle open [17]
2017 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships Dynamic 4-Way Speed Open The Assassins[17]
2017 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships Dynamic 2-Way Open Team Firefly Singapore[17]
2017 Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships 4-Way Formation Skydiving Team Skyblockers [17]
2017 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Laval, Canada junior freestyle 64.1 points[18]
2017 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Laval, Canada Dynamic 2-way Team Firefly Singapore[18]
2018 Wind Games Girona, Spain freestyle 547.80 points[19]
2018 Wind Games Girona, Spain 4-way speed 285.625 seconds[19]
2018 Asiania Indoor Skydiving Championships Chongqing, China solo freestyle [20]
2018 Asiania Indoor Skydiving Championships Chongqing, China Dynamic 2-way Team Firefly Singapore[20]
2018 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Bahrain solo freestyle [21][22]
2018 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Bahrain Dynamic 2-way Team Firefly Singapore[21][22]
2019 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Lille, France solo freestyle [23]
2022 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving Charleroi, Belgium solo freestyle [24]
2023 World Indoor Skydiving Championships Slovakia solo freestyle [25]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Kyra Poh". Red Bull. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b Ho, Shaun (24 December 2018). "Indoor skydiver Kyra Poh is soaring to new heights | Youthopia". youthopia.sg. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Indoor skydiving world champ Kyra Poh on flying high with sister Vera: 'One day, she will be better than me'". CNA Lifestyle. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  4. ^ "How Kyra Poh and Choo Yi Xuan became Team Firefly, Singapore's only indoor skydiving doublet". Esquire SG. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Indoor skydiving: Singapore's Kyra Poh and Choo Yixuan make strong debut in UK contest". AsiaOne. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Kyra Poh: The 14-year-old girl who's the 'fastest flyer'". BBC News. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. ^ "WATCH: Teen crowned 'world's fastest flyer' in indoor skydiving contest". euronews. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  8. ^ Auto, Hermes (24 June 2018). "Skydiving: Singapore's indoor skydiving champ Kyra Poh fractures rib, out for six weeks | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Singapore's skydiving champion Kyra Poh jumps from planes but is terrified of toasters". AsiaOne. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  10. ^ "This 18-Year-Old Athlete is an Indoor Skydiving Champion". Hive Life Magazine. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  11. ^ Auto, Hermes (19 June 2020). "Coronavirus: Singapore's indoor skydivers resume training at the stroke of midnight | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  12. ^ "17 new athletes from 8 sporting disciplines, join the 2022 cohort of spexScholars!". circle.myactivesg.com. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Singapore duo won 2nd place in an international indoor skydiving competition - Alvinology". 2 December 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  14. ^ Umar, Sukmawati (10 April 2016). "Singapore teens top international indoor skydiving competition". The New Paper. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  15. ^ Auto, Hermes (16 October 2016). "Singapore teen Kyra Poh wins junior freestyle gold at Indoor Skydiving World Cup | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  16. ^ "S'porean Kyra Poh wins world indoor skydiving junior title". TODAY. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e "Kyra Poh dominates Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships 2017 with 4 gold medals". 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020.
  18. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (23 October 2017). "Singapore's Kyra Poh crowned top freestyle junior at FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  19. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (5 February 2018). "Indoor skydiving: Kyra Poh wins two golds at Wind Games in Spain | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  20. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (25 September 2018). "Indoor skydiving: Kyra Poh earns two of Singapore's three golds at Asiania championships | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Kyra Poh". London Speaker Bureau Asia. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  22. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (30 October 2018). "Indoor skydiving: Kyra Poh and Choo Yi Xuan win World Cup gold | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  23. ^ Auto, Hermes (22 April 2019). "Indoor skydiving: Kyra Poh clinches silver at FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  24. ^ Auto, Hermes (10 April 2022). "S'pore's indoor skydivers win four titles at FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  25. ^ "'First competition where the nerves were high', says world champ Kyra Poh after World Indoor Skydiving Championships medal haul". CNA. Retrieved 8 May 2023.