Singapore Sportsmen

What is your favourite sport? Who is your favourite sportsperson? It takes so much more than talent to be amazing – it takes true strength, dedication and perseverance. Let’s take a look at some of Singapore’s top sports personalities and see what makes them so sport-tacular! SPRINTING

Singapore has had its fair share of running athletes who have earned great respect in the sporting world. In sprinting, Singapore’s record holder for the 100m sprint is U.K. Shyam. He broke a longstanding 33-yearold record of 10.38s (previously set by Singaporean sprint legend C. Kunalan) in 2001. His 10.37s record still stands as the fastest ever SEA Games silver medal timing in SEA Games history.

Young athlete Veronica Shanti Pereira also holds the national records for women for the 100 metres at 11.80s and 200 metres at 23.60s. She was the very first female Singaporean to run the 100 metres in under 12 seconds when at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics where she clocked 11.89s.

SWIMMING

Winning Singapore’s first-ever Olympic gold, Joseph Schooling became a household name overnight. He was a gold medallist in the 100m butterfly at the 2016 Olympics, with a winning time of 50.39 seconds. With that mammoth feat, he knocked three-time defending champion Michael Phelps into second place. Apart from Joseph, Singapore is also proud to be home to paralympians like Yip Pin Xiu, who has never been held back by her disabilities but instead has incredible achievements in swimming. Pin Xiu is a three-time Paralympic gold medallist. She won a gold medal in the 100 metres backstroke S2 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, setting a world record for that event.

TABLE TENNIS

With sporting talents like Li Jiawei, Gao Ning and Feng Tianwei, it is little wonder that Singapore is also wellknown for our sporting capabilities in Table Tennis. Feng Tianwei first represented Singapore at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning Singapore our first Olympic silver medal in Table Tennis. Her tenacity helped her to improve with each game and achieve great results.

Another athlete whose tenacity is admirable is that of paralympian Jason Chee. Without both legs, his left arm, three fingers on his right hand and his right eye, Jason still has multiple gold medals to his name. Despite losing his limbs in an accident and his eye to cancer, Jason never let it stop him from chasing his dream, believing that “I can still do it with my positive thinking, my determination and my perseverance to fight on”.

TEAM SINGAPORE!

How much do you know about the team that represents Singapore at international sporting events?