SINGAPORE (AP) It was a photo taken with Michael Phelps that inspired Joseph Schooling to Olympic gold. He beat his idol in the 100-meter butterfly to deliver the first ever Olympic gold medal for the city-state of 5.54 million.
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When 21-year-old Joseph Schooling beat Michael Phelps to set a new Olympic record, he not only made history but realized his parents’ 7-year sacrifice to get him to the Olympic podium last Friday. Phelps finished second in a three-way dead heat with two of his greatest rivals – South African Chad Le Clos and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
Schooling’s time smashed the Olympic Games record of 50.58s, clocked by Phelps at Beijing 2008, who had won the 100m butterfly at the past three Olympics.
“I don’t think I could have a better second mom or nanny by my side to help me through all this”, Schooling said in the clip.
Singapore’s president, Tony Tan, also added his voice to the stream of congratulations, proudly noting that Schooling finished almost a full second ahead of three of the world’s best swimmers.
“I hope he would be there with his family and he said he would”, Lee posted on his Facebook late Saturday.
“They did it this time”, he said.
“I got a feeling that Michael gave him some words of praises. To qualify for the Games is already an vast achievement, and they have all done Singapore very proud”, said Tan.
“It’s special, because it shows that I have been able to change the sport a little bit and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do”.
“Together with all of Singapore, MINDEF (Ministry of Defense) wishes Mr. Schooling continued success in the next Olympic Games”.
Dr Ng said: “From 2013 to the 2016 Olympics, Mr Schooling has been exemplary in fulfilling the raison d’etre for his deferment – he trained hard and met all performance milestones on his way to Olympic glory”.
Joseph Schooling at home on Aug 15, 2016. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
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