ST Sports Talk Ep 138 (Pt 2): Yip Pin Xiu on Olympics and Paralympics prize money disparity debate in Singapore 

9:35 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 second of two parts - covering the inevitable prize money debate for gold wins in the Olympics and Paralympics.

In Part 2, they cover the following points:

1. Yip's views on the resurrected social media debate about inequality in prize money to reward gold-winning Olympians and Paralympians in Singapore (0:45)
2. Why the situation in Singapore is different for example, than it is in Australia, which recently announced that its Paralympians will get the same cash bonuses as their able-bodied counterparts (1:50)
3. Chay says blame should not be aimed solely at the Government as there are various ways for public and corporate spheres to step in to close up monetary reward disparity (3:00)
4. Yip addresses common views about the Paralympics being less competitive, and says Paralympic athletes put in as much as able-bodied counterparts into their sport, dedication and excellence (5:30)
5. Yip's future plans, including opening a swim school and contributing back to the Singapore sports community (8:02)

Listen to Pt 1: Yip Pin Xiu on staying at the top as a Paralympic gold-medal champion: ST Sports Talk Ep 137: https://omny.fm/shows/gameoftwohalves-1/yip-pin-xiu-on-staying-at-the-top-as-a-paralympic

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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