Yip Pin Xiu has made headlines in Singapore recently for her gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.
One of Singapore’s shining sporting heroes, she doesn’t let her muscular dystrophy – a genetic disorder that slowly breaks down the muscles and affects her eyesight – get in the way of her ambitions.
Here are 7 facts that prove that Pin Xiu was born a natural winner.
“It may sound clichéd, but I truly belong in the water. I can walk, do handstands, and perform somersaults. It is only in the water that I can move freely and do whatever anyone else can do,” says Pin Xiu in an interview with SportsSG.
Rather than let her disability bring her down, she always focuses on the positives. Like Pin Xiu who found her calling in the water, you can find your own ‘water’ too if you feel like you don’t belong.
For those who have kept an eye on her career, seeing Pin Xiu atop the podium is nothing new. According to a Straits Times article that charted her career over the years, Pin Xiu had already clinched over 30 medals from local and international swim meets by the age of 15.
For the prodigious talent who first competed when she was just 12, it seemed like wherever she went, she’d come home with a medal around her neck.
While most students approach the GCE O-Level exams by spending hours mugging away at their desks, Pin Xiu had to make time for other commitments.
Back in 2008, while preparing for her first Paralympics, she was given the opportunity to delay her studies for a year to focus on training full-time. This was so that she could pour everything into her O’s the following year.
However, ever the challenger, she felt as though she could manage both at the same time. With the unyielding support of her parents, she pushed through. Her parents were reportedly willing to overlook her grades in favour of supporting their daughter’s decision.
Back in 2008, when Pin Xiu clinched gold at the Beijing Paralympics, there was much online debate regarding her monetary reward.
According to Singapore National Olympic Council, athletes who claim gold medals at the Olympic Games are rewarded with $1M. However, Paralympians who achieve similar feats were entitled to only a tenth of that amount.
Following her heroic feats in Beijing, which saw Pin Xiu bring home Singapore’s first-ever gold medal in the Olympics or Paralympics, public criticism of the disparity between prize money was rife and eventually discussed in Parliament.
Eventually, the prize money was increased to $200,000, which still stands today.
Smashing a world record is not something that happens every day. Usually, records are broken by formidable competitors who hold some sort of disadvantage.
However, Pin Xiu defied the odds at the Asean Para Games in 2015. As there was a lack of competitors in the class she usually swims in, she had to compete in the S5 division. The category had competitors with better functioning limbs compared to Pin Xiu.
Competition aside, Pin Xiu set forth and achieved a time of 1:01.61sec in the 50m backstroke event. The timing smashed the world record by a whole 1.39 seconds, set by Feng Yazhu in 2012.
After her exploits in 2015, no one has come close to eclipsing her performance. Pin Xiu continues to hold the world records for the 50m and 100m backstroke (S2) events. The latter was achieved at the 2016 Rio Paralympics where Pin Xiu set a world record time of 2:07.09.
Interestingly, the fastest timing before that also belonged to Pin Xiu when she clocked 2min 9.79sec in the IPC Swimming European Open Championships in Portugal in May 2016.
Despite what seems like a smooth journey to the top, Pin Xiu’s condition has continued to deteriorate over the years.
Due to her worsening condition, she even switched styles between front crawl to backstroke. As a result, she spends hours perfecting her technique, improvising on every small detail to gain a competitive edge.
Speaking with Sports.SG, Pin Xiu says, “Every time my condition deteriorates, I have to put in more hours in training and go to more physiotherapy sessions.”
With her next event, the 50m backstroke (S2), set on 2 Sep, Singapore will be watching with great interest.
If everything goes to plan, we can hope to see Pin Xiu bag her fifth gold medal in the Paralympics.
Here’s wishing her all the luck, Singapore’s proud of you.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Asian Paralympic on Twitter.
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