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Singapore’s para-swimmer Theresa Goh has clinched a bronze medal in the women’s 100m backstroke SB4 final on Sunday (Monday, Singapore time) in Rio de Janeiro, reported local media.
The 29-year-old clocked 1 min 55.55 sec at the Olympics Aquatic Stadium, finishing behind Norwegian Sarah Louise Rung (1:44.94) and Italian Giulia Ghiretti (1:50.58).
Goh had set her personal best time of 1:54.50 in the morning’s heats, which is also an Asian record. That made her the second fastest qualifier going into the final. Ghiretti was the final’s fastest qualifier.
Goh’s win makes this Singapore’s second medal of the Rio Paralympics. Last Saturday, Yip Pin Xiu, 24, bagged Singapore’s first medal with a gold in the 100m backstroke S2 event.
President Tony Tan congratulated Goh on her win, adding that it has been “a strong effort by Team Singapore at the Rio Paralympics so far. Well done!”
AFP, Reuters, The Straits Times, MCCY, Singapore Sports Council
In an emotional post on Instagram, fellow para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu posted a photograph of her sharing a moment of embrace with Goh to celebrate the latter’s win.
Yip wrote in a post dedicated to Goh: “You are now a Paralympic (medallist) after 17 years of training and perseverance. Nobody knows our journey like us and I am so incredibly proud of you.”
Goh was the first Singapore swimmer to compete at the Paralympics, back in Athens in 2004. This is her first medal in four Paralympic Games.
In a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Facebook today, he lauded Goh for her hard work.
“Well done and thank you for being an inspiration, leading by example and showing us how hard work and perseverance pays off!” he wrote.
Goh has two more events to come – the S5 50m freestyle and the S5 100m freestyle – while Yip will compete in Friday’s S2 50m backstroke event, reported Channel NewsAsia.
AFP
maryann@sph.com.sg
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