The Paris 2024 Olympics are almost upon us, and in the spirit of national pride, GRAZIA rounds up five of the top female athletes to watch at this year’s Games. After all, there’s no better time than the Olympics to proudly wave the Singapore flag. This year’s Olympics are taking place from 26 July to 11 August, while the Paralympics will begin on 28 August. From the youngest female athlete on Team Singapore to our country’s most well-known female sprinter, here are the women from Singapore to watch, as they compete with the crème de la crème at the Summer Games.
Shanti Pereira
Perhaps one of the most widely-known athletes on this year’s Olympic contingent is Shanti Pereira. The sprinting queen qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics but is set to make a bigger splash at this year’s Games through the 100m and 200m events. She is the first Singaporean to qualify for the Olympics 200m event by meeting the World Athletics (WA) qualifying standards. Setting national records—then subsequently beating said records—across various track and field events, Pereira has been a frontrunner on the local athletics team for a number of years now. She currently holds the national record for the 100m, 200m and 400m events, and in 2023, held the title as 1st in Asia for both the 100m and 200m, according to WA records.
Shannon Tan
Shannon Tan may be young, but Tan is not your average 20-year-old. She is the first Singaporean golfer to qualify for the Olympics Games in our country’s history. Despite just having turned professional in January this year, Tan is already Singapore’s top golfer. At her Ladies European Tour debut this year, she was the first Singaporean to play at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open, taking home the historic win alongside a $436,000 prize. Tan is among just 60 female golfers who will tee off in the French capital city this Olympics.
Gan Ching Hwee
Following team switches and qualification complications that involved fellow Team Singapore swimmer Quah Ting Wen, all eyes in Singapore will be on Gan Ching Hwee. Gan qualified for the Singapore swim team in the 4 x 100m relay event, after Quah’s removal from the initial team. This is Gan’s first time at the Games, and will be participating in the relay in the freestyle leg. She is also competing in the longer individual 800m and 1,500m races, after shattering the national records for those events earlier this year.
Laurentia Tan
At 45 years old, Laurentia Tan is the oldest member of the Olympics and Paralympics contingent. But she is proving that age is nothing more than a number. Fun fact: Tan is Singapore’s first Paralympics medallist. Tan, who has cerebral palsy and is deaf, is a dressage rider who began horse-riding at age five, for physiotherapy. She uses a special vest that allows her to feel the vibrations of the music that plays as the duo trots around the riding arena. Tan began her Paralympics career back in 2008, at the Beijing edition (though the equestrian events were held in Hong Kong), so she’ll definitely be a familiar face to spot at the upcoming Games in Paris.
Yip Pin Xiu
Regarded as one of the top athletes from Singapore’s Paralympics contingent, swimmer Yip Pin Xiu is poised to head to Paris this August. Having started swimming as a family-favourite pasttime when she was just five years old, the five-time Paralympic champion is the country’s most decorated Paralympian. She was even responsible for bringing home Singapore’s first-ever Paralympics gold medal back in 2008. Now, 16 years on, Yip will be competing in the S2 50m and 100m backstroke events in Paris, defending her title as reigning champion. The 2024 Paralympics will be the celebrated swimmer’s fifth time at the Games.
Sophie Soon
Para-swimmer Sophie Soon is the youngest female athlete on the Paralympics team. The athlete, who suffers from cone-rod dystrophy and has a visual impairment, made her Paralympics debut at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, coming in fourth in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB12. At this year’s edition, Soon will be competing in the same event, only this time, she’s hoping to take a spot on the podium. After all, she took home her first world championships title and scored a silver medal at the Madeira 2022 World Para Swimming Championships. It seems that for Soon, the only way is up.
Nur Syahidah Binte Alim
The only para-archer on the Team Singapore Paralympics contingent this year is Nur Syahidah Binte Alim. Since 2015, Nur has represented Singapore on multiple world stages as the nation’s first female para-archer, including the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio and the World Archery Para Championships. In 2019, Nur became Singapore’s first-ever world champion at the World Archery Para Championships in The Netherlands. Despite Nur began her career in sports at a later age, discovering her passion and talent only when she was 18 years old.
Levenia Sim
The youngest female athlete on the Singapore Olympic team is Levenia Sim. Sim previously smashed through national records for the backstroke, so it comes as no surprise that the 18-year-old is taking on the same role in the upcoming Games. For her debut at the Olympics, Sim will be taking part in the 4x100m medley relay. You could say the athletic genes swim in the family as the Stanford University undergraduate will also be competing alongside her sister and fellow national swimmer Letitia Sim in the relay event.
Jeralyn Tan
Jeralyn Tan is the only boccia athlete representing Singapore at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The sport boccia is similar to bocce ball, but is played in competitive settings almost exclusively by persons with disabilities, due to rules requiring athletes to stay in the seated position during games. Tan, who first picked up the sport in 2008, started representing Singapore as a national boccia athlete at various international competitions. After coming in first at the Povoa de Varzim 2023 World Boccia Cup, Tan currently holds the title as the best female boccia player in the world.
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