Yip Pin Xiu wins World Championships gold, seals Paralympic slot for Singapore
Para-swimmer retains gold in women's 100m backstroke S2 event, despite falling ill just before her races
SINGAPORE — Singapore's five-time Paralympic gold medallist Yip Pin Xiu continued her dominance in her pet event as she swept to gold at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester on Wednesday (2 August).
The 31-year-old powered to victory in the women's 100m backstroke S2 event in 2min 17.78sec, finishing nearly 11 seconds ahead of second-placed Angela Procida of Italy (2:28.64). Mexico's Fabiola Ramirez Martinez was third with 2:31.66.
She thus retains the gold she won at the 2022 World Championships in Madeira, Portugal.
The gold-medal win also means that Yip has sealed the first para-swimming slot for Singapore at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. This is the city-state's second guaranteed slot at the Paris Games, after Nur Syahidah Alim sealed a para-archery slot at the 2023 World Para Archery Championships last month.
Yip is also the two-time reigning Paralympics gold medallist in this event, having won at both the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics.
Fallen ill just before her races
The path to this gold has not been easy for Yip, as she had fallen ill just before her races.
"I knew that I had been training hard, so I relied on mental strategies to trust that I could carry that through," she said in a media release by the Singapore Disability Sports Council.
"There was a lot of pressure on myself because winning may seem easy and expected of me, but it really isn’t. I don’t take anything for granted and make sure that everything is a deliberate choice, from training, tapering to rest and recovery.
“This world title means a lot to me. It’s a reminder that I am not going to sit on my laurels. It’s also amazing that it gives us a shot at the Paralympic Games next year, and I’m ecstatic that we have a checklist of what we need to continue working on. I will focus on getting my body and mind in the best condition to continue doing my best.”
Besides Yip, three other Singapore para-swimmers are competing at the World Championships: Colin and Sophie Soon, as well as Toh Wei Soong.
The World Championships are being held until 6 August, with 546 para swimmers from 67 nations vying for one of the 270 direct qualification slots on offer for the Paris Paralympic Games.
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