SINGAPORE: Singapore's Special Olympics team is back with a total haul of 32 medals.

They came back from the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai on Friday night with 7 gold, 9 silver and 16 bronze medals.

Family and friends were at the Changi Airport to welcome Singapore's 17-member Special Olympics team from their 10-day feat.

They were part of the 7,500 athletes from 165 countries who participated in the Special Olympics.

Singapore took part in five categories and performed better than the previous outing.

But winning is not everything.

Seng Su Lin, Aquatics Coach of Team Singapore, said: "We think more of the effort than the win – the medals are more of the crystallisation of the efforts, but it's mainly the hard work they put in. They understand what it means to reap the fruits that they worked for."

Parliamentary Secretary Teo Ser Luck, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, said: "Not only did they don national colours, they represented Singapore. This Special Olympics has done them very good and if we were to look beyond the medals, it has achieved so much for them."

Before heading to Shanghai, Team Singapore had a four-day stopover in Guangzhou as part of the Special Olympics World Games Host Town Programme, and the athletes had the chance to mingle with the Chinese locals and share Singapore's way of life.


- CNA/so