Joseph Schooling is Singapore's first Olympic champion

from cna.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Joseph Schooling on Saturday (Aug 13) won Singapore's first-ever Olympic gold medal after winning the 100m butterfly event at Rio 2016.

The 21-year-old Singaporean touched the wall in 50.39s, nearly one second ahead of an extraordinary joint-silver finish of 51.14s shared by American great Michael Phelps, South Africa's Chad le Clos and Hungarian Laszlo Cseh.

Schooling's time smashed the Olympic Games record of 50.58s, clocked by Phelps at Beijing 2008. This is the first time at Rio 2016 that Phelps, who won the 100m butterfly at the past three Olympics, has been beaten.

This is also the first ever gold medal by a Southeast Asian male swimmer.

"It feels great, it kinds of feels surreal right now, it's crazy," said Schooling after the race. "I really can't describe how this moment feels. All the adrenaline is running through my veins right now. It's a dream come true."

"I'm really honoured and privileged to swim alongside some of these great names, people who changed the face of our sport," he added.

"I can't really tell you how grateful I am to have this chance to swim in an Olympic final and to represent our country."

"I'm just ecstatic. I need it to sink in."

"I WENT FOR IT"

Singapore's chef de mission Low Teo Ping told Channel NewsAsia: "When Joseph's lane showed 'No.1', that was it. One can't describe the ecstasy. It's all for Singapore."

"We are a small and young nation and with three other guys chasing him down while clocking the same time, it speaks volumes of what Jo has done for Singapore," he added.

"I think the world was expecting some of the other swimmers to be there, for example for Phelps to win his 23rd gold. But here we have this boy from Singapore who really disappointed them, and we are all ecstatic." 

"We are all ecstatic," repeated Mr Low.

Reflecting on his race, Schooling said: "I went for it and I didn't look back. I had some doubts. Everyone has doubts. It's all about how you turn those doubts into positive moments. And I'm really glad that I could do that."

"I'm going to have to pinch myself to see that I'm alive," said Colin Schooling, who watched his son make history from a viewing party in Singapore.

"Singapore, he did what you all wanted and he did it in style," he added, visibly overwhelmed with pride.

He said a world record could be next. "The most important thing is to be an ambassador for all our children in Singapore that gives them hope that they also can do it. There's nothing special about him, just a boy who is interested in the sport." 

Schooling was the fastest semi-finallist a day earlier and had also won his heat on Friday, pipping Phelps in the process.

The 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly were Schooling's other events but hewithdrew from the latter and missed out on the finals for the former.

The Singaporean's groundbreaking Olympic feat follows his bronze at the 2015 World Championships, which was also a first-ever podium finish for his nation.

- CNA/jo