Team Singapore at the Paris Olympics: Five athletes to look out for
Three years after the last Games, Singapore's finest will be back in action at the world's biggest sporting meet.
SINGAPORE: Three years after the last Olympic Games, the world's biggest sporting meet is set to return with France as the stage, spectators back in the stands and the pandemic a distant memory.
From Jul 26 to Aug 11, most athletes will converge on the capital of Paris, with a number of competitions also held in cities such as Marseille.
The last time Singapore took home an Olympics medal was eight years ago, when swimmer Joseph Schooling stunned the world to win gold in the 100m butterfly.
Here are five Singaporean athletes to look out for at the 2024 edition.
1. Maximilian Maeder
Arguably Singapore's best bet for a medal at the Paris Games, 17-year-old kitefoiler Maeder has been on a scintillating run of form for the last year.
Top of global rankings, the Asian Games gold medalist has won five events in a row, the latest being a successful defence in May of his world championships title.
Maeder was born in Singapore to a Swiss father and a Singaporean mother, and started in the sport at age six.
While expectations are building, he has said that the biggest pressure comes from within.
"It is mainly ... me upon myself giving pressure to say let's do it again, execute again and prepare properly again," he said.
2. Letitia Sim
The 21-year-old has been making waves since her major debut for Singapore at the 2021 SEA Games.
She holds national records in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke; as well as the 200m individual medley.
At Hangzhou Asian Games last year, Sim registered two fourth-place finishes in the 100m and 200m breaststroke. She went on to meet the Olympics “A” cut for 100m breaststroke in November.
No female Singaporean swimmer has made an Olympic semi-final since Tao Li (100m butterfly) in 2012.
In Paris, Sim will also compete in the women’s 4x100m medley relay along with Gan Ching Hwee, Quah Jing Wen and her younger sister Levenia Sim.
The initial lineup featured Quah Ting Wen instead of Gan, in a selection saga which played out earlier this month.
3. Shanti Pereira
After a brilliant 2023 where she met the 200m qualifying mark for the Olympics among other achievements, Pereira's preparations suffered the setback of an injury.
It also meant that Singapore's sprint queen missed out on debuting in the elite Diamond League competition among other major meets and competitions.
After taking a few weeks to recover, Pereira is back on track and has been training in Stockholm ahead of the Olympics.
A strong performance in Paris could see her further cement her history-making legacy, if she can become the first Singaporean to make an athletics semi-finals at the Olympics.
4. Ryan Lo
Asia's top-ranked sailor in his class and placed 11th in the world, Lo is competing at his second Olympics.
The 27-year-old also clinched gold at the Asian Games last year.
"It definitely gave me a lot of confidence and assurance that I was on the right track," Lo told CNA earlier this year. "It also showed me that there were quite a lot of areas which I needed to further work on and improve which we did address in this last few months."
The Singaporean finished 21st out of 35 sailors in his Olympics debut at the COVID-postponed Tokyo Games in 2021.
This time, a medal race could be within Lo's grasp if everything comes together.
To date, only two Singaporean sailors (Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low, women's 49er FX) have qualified for an Olympics medal race. The duo eventually finished 10th overall at the Tokyo Games.
5. Loh Kean Yew
The former world champion heads to the Olympics in an indifferent run of form.
While the current world number 11 ended his 883-day title drought this year, there were also six first-round exits. At his most recent tournament in June, Loh was eliminated in the round of 16 by India's world number 96 Sameer Verma.
The 26-year-old is also coping with a long-term shoulder injury which flared up earlier this year.
At the last Olympics, Loh was eliminated in the group stage after losing to Indonesia's Jonatan Christie.Â
“There are a lot of upsets during big tournaments, because the more you want it, the harder (it might) get to perform," he told CNA.
"So it's about how each and every player deals with their own pressure and also who can perform the best.”