Beyond the Arena: Cheryl & Wan Xiu

How a Sport Dietitian & Biomechanist are Powering Peak Athlete Performance

From crafting nutrition plans that fuel Olympic dreams to analysing competitor movements for a winning training strategy, Sport Dietitian Cheryl (left) and Sport Biomechanist Wan Xiu (right) are integral parts of a multidisciplinary support system for Team Singapore’s athletes. Photo credit: Cheryl Teo & Goh Wan Xiu

Behind every athlete’s podium moment is a dedicated team of professionals, whose expertise empowers athletes to achieve peak performance on the global stage. At the Singapore Sport Institute, Sport Dietitian Cheryl Teo and Sport Biomechanist Goh Wan Xiu play crucial roles in the multidisciplinary support system for Team Singapore. 

Fuelling Olympic Dreams

Cheryl Teo at the Rio 2016 Olympics with Team Singapore. Photo credit: Cheryl Teo

Dietetics, during her internship at the Singapore Sports School. She had approached Sport Singapore for a research project but unexpectedly received a job offer for their Nutrition team instead. She seized the opportunity and has never looked back since.

For Cheryl, the learning curve has been steep, but the journey rewarding. “The biggest challenge is the hands-on learning,” she says, recalling her first overseas assignment to the 2012 London Olympics. Serving as a last-minute replacement, she had to learn on the fly. “It was scary!” she says, laughing. “I mainly did what I was told, like buying food from suppliers.”

Today, Cheryl plays a far more proactive role. She now collaborates with other Sport Science and Medicine teams to holistically support athletes and coaches of various National Sports Associations. Her goal is to help athletes improve their performance through tailored nutrition plans, and empower them to make informed dietary decisions independently. A nutrition plan for a water polo athlete, for instance, focuses on carb-loading for pre-training energy, then shifts to proteins for post-match muscle recovery, along with carbs for refuelling.

Cheryl Teo (third from left) conducting a cooking workshop with Singapore’s National Wushu Team. Photo credit: Cheryl Teo

Apart from developing nutrition education curriculums and guides on safe supplement use, she also shares practical nutritional advice to athletes through cooking workshops and even hawker centre runs.

Witnessing the athletes’ growth alongside her own over the past 12 years has been immensely fulfilling. “I'm proud of how I’ve evolved as a practitioner, seeing how I can now better support not just the athletes, but the ecosystem,” she says.

Decoding Athletic Movement

Goh Wan Xiu (left) advising national para badminton player Tay Wei Ming (right) on how to strengthen his smash based on a video analysis Photo Credit : Goh Wan Xiu

While Cheryl ensures the right fuel for athletes, Wan Xiu analyses how their bodies move to perfect their technique.

As a Sport Biomechanist, Wan Xiu is like a detective — she gathers data on athletes’ movements through cameras and specialised equipment, then applies physics principles to optimise performance and reduce injury risks. This could mean reviewing every shot in a badminton match, or studying the same bowling action repeatedly to identify the optimal technique. Beyond providing on-ground support, Wan Xiu also conducts research to fill gaps in sports science knowledge, publishing works in peer-reviewed journals.

Wan Xiu's love of sports began in her childhood, playing at her grandparents’ HDB void deck. "I naturally liked balls more than dolls," she says. Originally set on becoming a professional table tennis player, Wan Xiu did not pass the second round of selection at the Singapore Sports School. Despite the setback, she pursued her passion by studying sports science at university. A pivotal internship inspired her to specialise in sports biomechanics.

She loves that her work gives athletes a strategic edge. “It's the only sport science that allows us to analyse our opponents closely. We don’t know what they eat, or what they think, but biomechanics is the one that really looks at how they perform,” explains Wan Xiu.

Goh Wan Xiu (right) with para table tennis player Jason Chee (left), discussing ways to optimise his performance. Photo Credit : Goh Wan Xiu

A standout moment in her nine-year career was the 2017 ASEAN Para Games, where Wan Xiu’s recommendations helped para table tennis player Jason Chee clinch gold. By reviewing past matches, she identified that over half the points were won within two shots. She then had Jason focus his training on service and returns to his opponents’ common serve types – a strategy that proved successful.

Both Cheryl and Wan Xiu’s behind-the-scenes roles are indispensable in the sports ecosystem, proving that a fulfilling career in sports can be found beyond the competitive arena.