ST Sports Talk Ep 137 (Pt 1): Yip Pin Xiu on staying at the top as a Paralympic gold-medal champion 

21:25 mins

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the biggest sports talking points every month.

Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu won her second gold of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, cruising to victory in the S2 50m backstroke final on Sept 2. With the victory, Yip, 29, has retained the two titles she won at Rio 2016, having also won the S2 100m backstroke the week before.

Yip also holds the world records in both events, which she achieved at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong took to social media to congratulate her, hailing her as an amazing athlete and person.

He wrote: “5 Gold Medals on the most competitive of international arenas. There are 13 years between her Gold medals. To be at the top of her game, consistently, 13 years apart, shows us just how special she is, as an athlete, in any sport and on any platform."

ST Sports' Sazali Abdul Aziz and Rohit Brijnath host Yip and her coach Mark Chay in this wide-ranging podcast - the first of two parts - covering her experiences, emotions, fiery self-belief, views on the para-sports scene in Singapore and the inevitable prize money debate for gold wins in the Olympics and Paralympics.

In Part 1, they cover the following points:

1. How Yip's two gold medals at the Tokyo Games were different from previous Paralympic wins and also, special (1:45)
2. Chay's perspective as a coach training a Paralympian for the first time, and how Tokyo 2020 had the form book and previous success formulas discarded (4:13)
3. Yip describes each race and breaks down her mental and emotional challenges (8:52)
4. Why the Paralympics are important to Singapore and why people should watch and support it (11:08)
5. How has the local scene for para sports grown, and where it can improve in (14:32)

Listen to Pt 2: Yip Pin Xiu on Olympics and Paralympics prize money disparity debate in Singapore: https://omny.fm/shows/gameoftwohalves-1/yip-pin-xiu-on-olympics-and-paralympics-prize-mone

Produced by: Sazali Abdul Aziz ([email protected]), Rohit Brijnath ([email protected]), Ernest Luis & Penelope Lee

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim & Penelope Lee

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