S’pore Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu Wins Gold at Paris Paralympics, Her 6th Paralympic Gold Medal

By
Gianluca Ho
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Singapore’s Paralympic swimmer Yip Pin Xiu has clinched the gold medal in the 2024 Paralympic Games 100m backstroke S2 event, making it her first gold medal in the Paris Paralympics.

It was such a close shave as Yip had seemed to touch the wall at the same time as Mexico’s Haidee Aceves at the La Defense Arena on 29 Aug (Thursday) that even Yip thought she had been beaten.

The 32-year-old said after the race, “It was so close that when I came up, touched the wall and saw the two beside me also touched the wall, I was like ‘oh no, what’s this?’”

However, much to her delight, the results showed that Yip had finished first at 2min 21.73 sec, a mere 0.06 sec ahead of Aceves, with Italy’s Angela Procida in third place at 2:24.48.

Speaking on how she doesn’t let the performance of other athletes affect her, Yip said: “I’ve been trained throughout the years not to look at the people around me to really focus on what I can do and keep the energy there.”

A lesson we can all learn from and apply in life.

Facts about Yip Pin Xiu, Singapore’s Most Decorated Paralympian

Yip’s condition (Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease) was first diagnosed as muscular dystrophy when she was just two years old. She then started swimming to improve her health and strengthen her muscles, and began to swim competitively when she was 12, but was wheelchair-bound by the age of 13.

Nevertheless, she continued participating in competitions, and eventually won her first Paralympic gold medal in 2008 Beijing.

Since then, Yip has won five more gold medals at the Paralympic Games including the one this year, with the other four being two back-to-back wins in the 50m and 100m backstroke events in 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo. She also holds the world record for both events.

Yip is now setting her sights on the gold medal for the 50m backstroke event, which would make it her third time achieving this back-to-back win.

Aside from her swimming career, Yip was also sworn into Parliament on 1 October 2018 as a Nominated Member of Parliament, and served for approximately two years. As of 1 January 2022, Yip has been part of the Athlete Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency as well.

Talk about having an eventful life.

A Brief History of the Paralympic Games

While sport for athletes with an impairment had been around for more than 100 years, it was only after World War II that it was widely introduced to assist the large number of war veterans and civilians who had been injured during wartime.

After its gradual evolution from rehabilitation sport to competitive sport, the first Paralympic Games took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960 featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then, the Games have taken place every four years, just like the Olympic Games.

The word “Paralympic” is derived from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and the word “Olympic”, signifying that the Paralympics are the parallel Games to the Olympics and illustrates how the two movements exist side-by-side.

I bet most of us didn’t think the word held this much meaning behind it, but now we know.

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Gianluca Ho