Team Singapore’s Paralympic athletes will be given the rock star treatment on Saturday (Sept 24), when they embark on a celebratory parade around town in a fleet of supercars.
Led by double Paralympic champion Yip Pin Xiu, the athletes earned the honour after the Republic’s best Paralympic Games showing, with a haul of two golds and a bronze from Rio de Janeiro.
The parade will begin at 9am from the Sengkang Sports Centre, and end at about 2.30pm at the VivoCity mall. The convoy of exotic sports cars — each carrying a Team Singapore para-athlete — will make a pit stop at the National Library at Victoria Street.
Two weeks ago, after Yip clinched her first gold medal, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu had promised: “When our Paralympians return after the Games, we will have a public celebration to honour their extraordinary achievements.”
This year, Singapore was represented by a record contingent of 13 athletes in six sports at the Paralympic Games.
Swimmer Yip made history in Rio by becoming the only Singaporean to win multiple golds at a Games. The 24-year-old clinched gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke S2 events.
Team-mate Theresa Goh won the bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke SB4, her first medal in her fourth outing at the Paralympic Games.
Team Singapore’s Paralympians are due to touch down at Changi Airport on Wednesday morning at 5.35am aboard Flight SQ67. They will emerge at Belt 42, where family members, friends and fans will be welcoming them home.
Yip and Goh will then attend a media conference at 3.30pm at the Singapore Sports Institute’s seminar room.
The celebrations have already started even before the Paralympians are home.
National carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) threw a party for the Paralympians before their flight home and awarded Yip one million KrisFlyer miles for her double gold-medal-winning feat.
In a Facebook post by the Singapore Disability Sports Council on Tuesday, the 24-year-old was photographed being presented with the reward by an SIA representative, as well as a cake, champagne and flowers.
With one million Krisflyer points, Yip can, on average, make 16 economy-class return trips or five first-class return trips to London.
Bronze medallist Goh was also presented with a first-class ticket.
SIA is the official airline for Team Singapore. An SIA spokesperson said that the national carrier is “incredibly proud” of Yip’s achievements.
“We wish her the very best as she continues to fly the Singapore flag high in her swimming career,” said the spokesperson.
Last month, swimmer Joseph Schooling, who became the first Singaporean to win an Olympic gold medal in Rio, also received a million KrisFlyer miles from SIA.
The 21-year-old came home to a rapturous welcome and was honoured in Parliament after winning the men’s 100m butterfly with an Olympic record time of 50.39sec.
He was also taken on an open-top bus victory parade around the island.
Source: TODAY Online
