Yip Pin Xiu clinches gold in 50m backstroke event, completes 3rd Paralympics double

Yip Pin Xiu wins seventh Paralympics gold medal for Singapore

National swimmer Yip Pin Xiu has completed a historic feat of three consecutive Paralympic double gold medals for Singapore.

The achievement was confirmed after she won gold in the Women’s 50m backstroke S2 event at the Paris Paralympics.

Source: Team Singapore on Facebook

Yip Pin Xiu wins gold with time of 1:05.99 at Paralympics

Yip was competing at the La Defense Arena in Paris on Sunday (1 Sept) Singapore time, one of eight competitors from countries such as Mexico, Italy and Spain.

Source: Entertainment – Mediacorp on YouTube

Eventually, she finished tops with a time of 1 minute and 5.99 seconds — about three seconds faster than Mexico’s Haidee Viviana Aceves Perez, who came in second.

Source: Entertainment – Mediacorp on YouTube

Spain’s Teresa Perales, who came in almost five seconds later, got the bronze.

She won her heat to qualify for final

Earlier in the day, Yip qualified for the Women’s 50m backstroke S2 final after winning her heat.

She finished in first place among 11 competitors with a time of 1:05.06, according to the Singapore National Paralympic Council.

Source: Singapore National Paralympic Council on Facebook

This was more than three seconds faster than her nearest rival, Mexico’s Haidee Aceves.

Yip Pin Xiu now has seven Paralympic golds

Her latest win makes Yip, 32, a double gold winner at the Paris Paralympics, having won the 100m backstroke on 29 Aug.

Source: Singapore National Paralympic Council via Lawrence Wong on Facebook

She also won both the 100m and 50m events at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics — making this a hat-trick of double golds at the Paralympics.

That means she now has a total of seven Paralympic gold medals, having won her first at the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.

Source: Team Singapore on Facebook

Before the race, she was already Singapore’s most decorated Paralympic athlete. Now, her legendary status has just been extended.

Also read: 7 ways swimmer Yip Pin Xiu rose above muscular dystrophy & made S’pore proud

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Featured image adapted from Team Singapore on Facebook and Singapore National Paralympic Council via Lawrence Wong on Facebook.