Party time in Lion City: Singapore rejoices over first Olympic Games gold for Joseph Schooling
The 21-year-old Asian champion set a new Olympic record of 50.39 seconds as he edged out his American Michael Phelps, who ended in a dead heat for silver alongside South Africa’s Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cseh of Hungary
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Singapore exploded in celebration on Saturday after home-grown swimming hero Joseph Schooling beat US legend Michael Phelps in the 100m butterfly final in Rio de Janeiro to win the tiny republic’s first ever Olympic Games gold medal.
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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and President Tony Tan, who were in Rio to cheer Team Singapore, led an outpouring of congratulations for Schooling, whose mixed European and Asian heritage has resonated in the immigrant society of 5.5 million people.
“It is an incredible feat, to compete among the world’s best, stay focussed, and emerge victorious,” Lee said in a Facebook post.
Schooling will receive S$1 million (HK$5.8m) for his gold medal as part of a programme aimed at encouraging studious Singaporeans to excel in sport.
Schooling pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Rio, interrupting the 31-year-old Phelps’ quest for what would have been his fifth gold in Brazil and 23rd Olympic gold of his career.
The American phenomenon, who insists he won’t be back for a sixth Olympics, has a shot at one more gold in Saturday’s 4x100m medley, before retiring as the greatest Olympian of all time.
Schooling meet Phelps when the US Olympics swim team were visiting Singapore in 2008, and the American helped inspire the young Singaporean to move to the United States for extensive training and he is now based at the University of Texas.
Singaporean social media erupted in celebration as Schooling won in Brazil, as cheers broke out in public housing estates, where most Singaporeans live as many people had woken up early to watch the event live.
A photo posted by Joseph Schooling (@josephschooling) on Aug 12, 2016 at 10:41pm PDT
“Finally! We have done it at the grandest of stages!” Jayarethnam Pillai wrote on the prime minister’s Facebook page.
Schooling’s father, Colin, who hosted a viewing party at his home in Singapore, wept when his son won the medal.
“If I cry in front of all of you all, it’s because I have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.
“My love for my son is nothing I can describe to you all.”
In 2014, Colin Schooling dismissed stubborn speculation that his son was a “foreign talent” because of his surname – declaring that Joseph, a third-generation Singaporean, was a true son of the republic.
A programme to import sporting talent into Singapore has proved controversial, despite helping the country to win medals in regional and international competitions.
Chinese-born female table tennis players, who were naturalised by Singapore, won a team silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and an individual bronze in London 2012.
Singapore’s first Olympics medal was won by weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, who bagged a silver in Rome in 1960.
