Meet Yip Pin Xiu, Singapore’s Unknown Olympic Gold Medalist Swimmer Other Than Joseph Schooling

Last Saturday, Joseph Schooling clinched the GOLD medal in the Rio Olympics, making it Singapore’s first ever Olympic win.

Okay, not exactly.

8 years ago, Singapore attained its first-ever Gold medal at the Paralympics, after Yip Pin Xiu swam a 58.75 race in the 50m backstroke event and broke the world record.

The Gold medal was awarded to the then 16-year-old Yip, who suffers from muscular dystrophy as well as a nerve condition that impairs her eyesight.

Yip started swimming at age five to improve her health conditions. However, things took a turn when she stopped walking at age eleven and had to use a wheelchair. With her determination, Yip continued striving in the pool and found the drive to compete on the international level, making Singapore proud in the 2008 Paralympics.

Besides competitive swimming, Yip has also participated in events to raise awareness of disabled sports, such as the Interschool Swimming Meets and Montfort Secondary School Track and Field Meet 2007.

This year, Yip was also crowned The Straits Times’ Athlete of the Year 2015 in a gala ceremony held on February 26.

This is Yip’s second nomination. Her first was for the inaugural 2008 award which went to swimmer Tao Li. Yip had won the 50m back S3 at the Beijing Paralympics to become the first Singaporean winner at the Games.

Yip is set to compete in the Rio Paralympics this year that will be held from September 7 to September 18.

Perhaps Singapore will be getting 2 golds this year? Well, with Yip’s past achievements, that’s highly likely.

This article was first published on Goodyfeed.com