Joseph Schooling Singapore’s only Olympic gold medalist retires
Joseph Schooling, Singapore’s only Olympic gold medalist, is retiring at 28 years old from his swimming career.
Singapore’s Olympic history hasn’t been the most successful one in the world. During all their participation, across different disciplines, the only gold medal came in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Joseph Schooling, a swimmer for Singapore, participated in the 100-meter butterfly competition. He was facing tough opponents, between them Michael Phelps. However, this didn’t intimidate Schooling who finished in front of Phelps with a time of 50.39 seconds and won the first and only gold medal for Singapore to this date.
This performance earned him the nickname “Singapore’s Flying Fish”, however, things didn’t continue as greatly as they did in 2016. After that achievement, Schooling only managed to get a Bronze medal in the 2017 World Championship and couldn’t defend his title in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Afterward, he was left out of the 2023 Asian Games since two swimmers surpassed his time.
The 28-year-old swimmer has now announced his official retirement. He ends his career with the previously mentioned achievements, 3 Asian Games gold, and 29 Southeast Asian Games gold.
The big question now is, will Singapore be able to win any other Olympic gold medal?
