Team Singapore conclude Paris Paralympics campaign
Team Singapore wrapped up their Paris Paralympics campaign on September 7, with equestrienne Laurentia Tan and swimmer Toh Wei Soong competing on the penultimate day of the event.
Tan, along with her horse Hickstead, finished eighth in the freestyle final of the dressage individual event (Grade I), marking the conclusion of her fifth Paralympic appearance. The 45-year-old, who lives with cerebral palsy and profound deafness, previously earned one silver and three bronze medals in earlier Games.
At the Chateau de Versailles on September 7, Tan scored 73.174. Latvia’s Rihards Snikus took gold with a score of 82.487, his second of the Games, followed by Italy’s Sara Morganti (81.40) with silver and Britain’s Mari Durward-Akhurst (77.747), who claimed the bronze.
Meanwhile, Toh’s Paralympics journey also concluded. The 25-year-old swimmer, who has transverse myelitis (a condition affecting the spinal cord), finished eighth in the men’s 50m butterfly S7 final with a time of 30.96 seconds. The gold went to Ukraine’s Andrii Trusov, who clocked in at 28.75 seconds. Carlos Serrano Zarate from Colombia secured silver in 29.08 seconds, while Egor Efrosinin of Russia, competing as a neutral athlete, took the bronze with a time of 29.69 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Toh had qualified for the final by finishing eighth overall out of 12 swimmers in the heats, with a time of 31.66 seconds. He also placed eighth in the 50m freestyle S7 final on September 4. A day before, he narrowly missed the finals for the 100m backstroke S7, finishing ninth out of 10 in the heats.
Team Singapore’s 10-member contingent finishes the Paralympics with three medals: two golds and one silver, making it their best Paralympic performance to date. The previous record was set at the 2016 Rio Games, where the nation won two golds and one bronze.
Three years ago in Tokyo, Singapore won two gold medals through swimmer Yip Pin Xiu. Once again, Yip led Singapore to victory in Paris, successfully defending her S2 50m and 100m backstroke titles. This marked the third consecutive Paralympic Games where the 32-year-old emerged as a double champion.
On September 2, Jeralyn Tan added to Singapore’s medal tally, securing a silver in boccia, becoming the fourth Singaporean to earn a Paralympic medal. She joins swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, along with equestrienne Laurentia Tan, in Singapore’s esteemed Paralympic history.
The Games will officially close on September 8, with the ceremony taking place at 2:25 am Singapore time on September 9.