No shame talking about struggles: Singapore fencer Amita Berthier after Asian Games loss

Amita Berthier produced an 11-2 run late on, but it was not enough for Singapore’s women’s foil team, who were beaten 45-35 by Hong Kong in the quarter-finals.

PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Published Sep 26, 2026, 06:49 PM

Updated Sep 26, 2026, 10:40 PM

Amita Berthier showed great determination in the Asian Games despite losing narrowly in individual and team foil events, expressing disappointment but commitment to improve.

She openly shared her struggles with injury, personal losses, and anxiety to support fellow athletes facing similar challenges.

Singapore’s fencing team achieved their best Asian Games results, winning three medals including historic silver and bronze, highlighting the sport's rising profile.

NAGOYA – Twice in four days, Singapore fencer Amita Berthier was left in tears after agonising defeats at the Asian Games.

Defeat is something that many elite athletes struggle with, and despite the losses in Aichi-Nagoya, Berthier is learning to “be vulnerable, be open” by sharing the challenges she has faced in her journey.

In April 2025, the 25-year-old launched BT Development, a non-profit initiative aimed at providing mentorship to young athletes , with epee fencer Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman.

In recent months, she has talked openly about defeat, grief and her struggles in a series of Instagram posts.

She shared how she had slipped down the rankings in the 2025-2026 season, tore her hip cartilage in November, and put off surgery to compete at the Asian Games.

She also talked about how she lost her father, aunt, uncle, three grandparents and her dog in the past decade.

“I suffer from pretty bad anxiety,” she said in an interview. “Talking to my fellow Team Singapore athletes, a lot of them struggle with similar situations where they suffer a block, or some of them are constantly required to perform.

“So, I just started doing that (Instagram posts) because I realised that there are so many athletes who are struggling with similar situations, and I just wanted to be vocal about it because if I can help even one person, that would be enough for me.”

It has been a tough Asiad campaign for Berthier.

On Sept 23, she suffered a controversial 15-14 loss to Uzbekistan’s Polina Volobueva in the women’s individual foil round of 16.

Three days later, she led a defiant comeback at the Aichi Sky Expo, scoring 11 points to reduce a 38-24 deficit to 40-35 in the women’s team foil quarter-finals against Hong Kong.

Even with supporters – who included Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo – roaring on the Singapore quartet of Cheung Kemei, Maxine Wong, Stephanie Lee and Berthier from the makeshift stands, her Herculean effort proved to be in vain.

They lost the match 45-35, and once again Berthier – who won a team bronze in 2018 – was left in tears and will return home empty-handed for a second consecutive Games.

Despite being visibly distraught, she fielded interviews professionally at the mixed zone.

As sweat and tears dripped from her face, she told The Straits Times: “I’m not satisfied with my performance at these Games. Obviously, I wish I would have made the podium in both events because I know that I’m able to. But it didn’t happen, and I just have to keep my head down and keep working.

“It was difficult for me to know that I lost my individual match when I gave everything like I did on the piste. So, I tried to translate those emotions into the team match, which worked for me individually. But what I did was not enough for my team, and I wish that I could have done more.

“This was really tough for me because I don’t know when my next Games will be, and you never know what the future holds. I just wished I could have done more to inspire the younger generation, and for all my friends and family back home that give me unconditional support.”

But when asked if she was contemplating her future in the sport, the sorrow in her eyes turned to steel.

“I’m definitely gunning for the LA 2028 Olympics. I know this (loss) will fuel me, I just need some time to regroup,” she added.

With one day of competition to go, Singapore’s fencers have bagged three medals (one silver, two bronzes) for their best result at the Asian Games.

On Sept 22, Kiria won an unprecedented Asiad fencing silver medal in the women’s epee.

A day later, Wong won her first individual Asian Games fencing medal, securing a bronze in women’s foil after a semi-final loss to Japan’s Yuka Ueno.

On Sept 25, Elle Koh, Esther Tan, Filzah Hidayah and Kiria clinched a historic women’s team epee bronze.

Before these Games, Team Singapore had only two Asiad fencing medals through Lim Wei Wen’s men’s epee bronze in 2014, and a women’s team foil bronze won by Tatiana Wong, Melanie Huang, Berthier and Maxine four years later.

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David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

阿米塔·贝尔蒂埃在比赛后期打出一波 11-2 的攻势，但这还不足以帮助新加坡女子花剑队在四分之一决赛中以 35-45 负于香港队。

图片来源：联合早报

发布于 2026 年 9 月 26 日下午 6:49

更新于2026年9月26日晚上10:40

阿米塔·贝尔蒂埃在亚运会上展现了极大的决心，尽管在个人和团体花剑比赛中惜败，但她表达了失望之情，并决心提高成绩。

她坦诚地分享了自己与伤病、个人损失和焦虑作斗争的经历，以支持面临类似挑战的其他运动员。

新加坡击剑队在亚运会上取得了最佳成绩，赢得了三枚奖牌，其中包括一枚历史性的银牌和一枚铜牌，凸显了这项运动日益增长的影响力。

名古屋——在四天的时间里，新加坡击剑运动员阿米塔·贝尔蒂埃在亚运会上两次遭遇惨痛的失败，最终泪流满面。

失败是许多精英运动员都会面临的挑战，尽管在爱知名古屋遭遇失利，贝尔蒂埃仍然通过分享她在征程中所面临的挑战，学会了“展现脆弱，坦诚相待”。

2025 年 4 月，这位 25 岁的年轻人与重剑运动员 Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman 共同创立了 BT Development，这是一项旨在为年轻运动员提供指导的非营利性计划。

近几个月来，她通过一系列 Instagram 帖子公开谈论了失败、悲伤和她的挣扎。

她分享了自己在 2025-2026 赛季排名下滑、11 月份髋关节软骨撕裂以及为了参加亚运会而推迟手术的经历。

她还谈到，在过去的十年里，她失去了父亲、姑姑、叔叔、三位祖父母和她的爱犬。

“我患有非常严重的焦虑症，”她在一次采访中说道。“和我的新加坡国家队队友们交流后发现，他们中的许多人也面临着类似的困境，比如状态下滑，或者有些人需要不断地进行高强度训练。”

“所以我开始做这些（在 Instagram 上发帖），因为我意识到有很多运动员都面临着类似的困境，我只是想把这件事说出来，因为如果我能帮助到哪怕一个人，对我来说就足够了。”

对于贝尔蒂埃来说，这是一次艰难的亚运会征程。

9 月 23 日，她在女子个人花剑 16 强赛中以 14-15 惜败于乌兹别克斯坦选手波琳娜·沃洛布耶娃，比赛结果引发争议。

三天后，她在爱知天空博览会上带领球队上演了一场顽强的逆转，在女子团体花剑四分之一决赛对阵香港队的比赛中，她拿下 11 分，将 38-24 的劣势缩小到 40-35。

即使有包括文化、社区及青年部长梁振英在内的支持者在临时搭建的看台上为新加坡四重唱成员张可美、黄心颖、李思颖和贝尔蒂埃呐喊助威，她的巨大努力也终究徒劳无功。

他们以 45-35 输掉了比赛，贝尔蒂埃——这位在 2018 年获得团体铜牌的选手——再次泪洒赛场，连续第二届奥运会空手而归。

尽管她情绪明显低落，但她在混合采访区仍表现得非常专业。

她汗流浃背，泪水顺着脸颊滑落，告诉《海峡时报》：“我对自己在本届奥运会上的表现并不满意。显然，我希望自己能在两个项目中都登上领奖台，因为我知道自己有这个能力。但事与愿违，我只能埋头苦练。”

“得知自己在个人赛中输掉比赛，我很难过，因为我在雪道上已经竭尽全力了。所以我试图把这种情绪转化为团队赛的动力，这对我个人来说是有效的。但我所做的对团队来说还不够，我希望自己能做得更多。”

“这对我来说真的很难熬，因为我不知道下一届奥运会是什么时候，未来也难以预料。我只希望我能为激励年轻一代做更多的事情，也感谢家乡所有给予我无条件支持的亲朋好友。”

但当被问及是否在考虑自己在这项运动中的未来时，她眼中的悲伤变成了坚定的目光。

“我肯定会全力备战2028年洛杉矶奥运会。我知道这次失利会激励我，我只是需要一些时间重新调整状态，”她补充道。

距离亚运会比赛结束还有一天，新加坡击剑队已斩获三枚奖牌（一枚银牌，两枚铜牌），取得了他们在亚运会上的最佳成绩。

9月22日，基里亚在亚运会女子重剑比赛中获得了一枚史无前例的银牌。

一天后，黄女士赢得了她的第一枚亚运会个人击剑奖牌，在女子花剑半决赛中输给日本选手上野由香后，获得铜牌。

9月25日，Elle Koh、Esther Tan、Filzah Hidayah 和 Kiria 夺得女子团体重剑历史性铜牌。

在本届亚运会之前，新加坡队仅有两枚亚运会击剑奖牌，分别是林伟文在 2014 年男子重剑比赛中获得的铜牌，以及四年后由黄锦霞、黄美兰、贝尔蒂埃和马克辛赢得的女子团体花剑铜牌。

通过《海峡时报》的每周新闻简报，深入了解新加坡的所有体育赛事和趋势。

David Lee 是《海峡时报》的高级体育记者，主要报道水上运动、羽毛球、篮球、台球、足球和乒乓球。