Chee Swee Lee

Chee Swee Lee (; born 10 January 1955) is a Singaporean retired middle-distance runner who competed in the women's 800 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics. She was the first Singaporean woman to clinch a gold in athletics at the Asian Games—achieved at the women's 400 metres in 1974—and remained the only one until Shanti Pereira's victory at the women's 200 metres in 2023.

Early life Chee was born on 10 January 1955 in Singapore. The third of eight children, she attended Telok Kerau West Primary School and became its best-performing athletics student in 1966. At 14 years old, while still in secondary school, Chee represented Singapore in the 400m event at the 1969 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP Games) in Rangoon, winning the silver medal. At the 1971 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur, Chee won the silver in the 4x400m relay and the bronze medal in the 400m event.

Athletics career At the 1973 SEAP Games in Singapore, Chee won two individual silvers in the 400 m and 800 m, and Singapore national record for the 400 m, which remained unbroken until August 2017. Chee became the first Singaporean woman to win a gold at the Asian Games. She also won a silver in the women's 4x400 m and bronze in the 4x100 m relays. Chee was the only Singaporean woman to have finished first at an Asian Games athletics event. Her 1974 gold medal is housed at the Singapore Sports Museum.