23 Team Singapore athletes to compete across 11 sports at Tokyo Olympic Games
Image credit: Team Singapore Facebook
Still unfamiliar with the Team Singapore athletes who will be competing at this year's Tokyo Olympic Games?
We take you through the full list of the 23-strong Singapore contingent who will be flying the Republic's flag from 23 July - 8 August 2021 in Tokyo.
1. ATHLETICS - SHANTI PEREIRA
Image Credit: Instagram
Athlete
Veronica Shanti Pereira
Date of birth
21 September 1996 (24 years)
Event
Athletics - Women's 200m Sprint
Singapore sprint queen Veronica Shanti Pereira will be competing in the women's 200 metre dash in Tokyo, after qualifying by virtue of Universality Place (otherwise known as Wild Card), by being the highest ranked female athlete for her event.
She is currently the national record holder for both the women's 100m and 200m sprint events, and made history in 2015 at the Southeast Asian Games when she became Singapore's first sprint SEA Games gold medallist in 42 years.
This is her first Olympic Games, and she will be the sole representative for Track and Field.
2. BADMINTON - LOH KEAN YEW
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Athlete
Loh Kean Yew
Date of birth
26 June 1997 (24 years)
Event
Badminton - Men's Singles
Ranked 18th by Badminton World Federation in the Race to Tokyo Rankings, Singapore shuttler Loh Kean Yew is Singapore's current top men's badminton player.
He will be making his Olympic debut in Tokyo, and is a multiple SEA Games medallist, having won silver in the Men's Singles at the 2019 SEA Games, as well as bronze in the team event in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
He rose to prominence when he upset Chinese badminton legend and former World number one Lin Dan at the Thailand Masters Final in January 2019, and subsequently took three more silver medals across multiple BWF events in 2019.
3. BADMINTON - YEO JIA MIN
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Yeo Jia Min
Date of birth
1 February 1999 (22 years)
Event
Badminton - Women's Singles
This is Singapore shuttler Yeo Jiamin's first Olympic Games.
Previously ranked as World Junior No. 1 in the girls' singles event in June 2017, Jiamin's greatest achievement to date is winning the 2019 Hyderabad Open Women’s Singles title.
She has also clinched two titles at the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships in Indonesia, and took bronze in the 2017 Asian Junior Championships, as well as being part of the team that clinched team bronze at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 SEA Games.
Jiamin rose to international acclaim when she defeated then Japanese World No.1 Akane Yamaguchi at the BWF World Championships in August 2019. She is ranked 17th in BWF's Race To Tokyo rankings, and qualified for Tokyo 2020 by virtue of being among the top 38 players in the Olympics ranking list.
4. DIVING (AQUATICS) - JONATHAN CHAN
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Jonathan Chan Fan Keng
Date of birth
10 May 1997 (24 years)
Event
Diving - Men's 10m Platform
Singapore diver Jonathan Chan will be competing in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo, after his score of 407.90 in the 10m platform final at the 2019 Asian Diving Cup in Kuala Lumpur in September 2019 saw him clinch his Olympic spot, pipping China's Wang Zewei and North Korean Ri Kwon Hyok to the gold medal in the process.
Chan grew up doing gymnastics from the age of five, but switched to diving after, following in his sister Kimberly Chan's footsteps, who was also a former national diver. He has represented Singapore in the 2013 Asian Youth Games, 2014 Youth Olympic Games, and the 2015 and the 2017 SEA Games, clinching 3 bronze medals in the process.
He also took gold at the 2018 FINA Diving Grand Prix held in Singapore.
5. DIVING (AQUATICS) - FREIDA LIM
Image credit: SportSG
Athlete
Shen-Yan Freida Lim
Date of birth
7 February 1998 (23 years)
Event
Diving - Women's 10m Platform
Freida Lim is Singapore's first ever female diver to qualify for an Olympics.
While the 23 year-old met the qualifying criteria at the FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo when she finished 15th in a field of 18 competitors with a five-dive score of 272.35, she had to wait for official confirmation from FINA, which finally arrived on 23 June 2021, rubber stamping her spot at this summer's Olympiad.
Lim is also a multiple SEA Games medal winner, bagging the bronze medal in her maiden SEA Games campaign in 2015 for the women's 10m platform final with a score of 251.70, and taking silver at the 2017 SEA Games in 10m platform, synchronised platform, mixed synchronise platform and mixed team.
6. EQUESTRIAN - CAROLINE CHEW
Image credit: Twitter Athlete
Caroline Rosanna Pei Jia Chew
Date of birth
18 March 1994 (27 years)
Event
Equestrian - Individual Dressage
Caroline Chew makes history as the first Singaporean Equestrian athlete to compete at an Olympic Games.
Highlights of her career include the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, as well as the 2018 World Equestrian Games, and she is a multiple SEA Games medallist with two silvers and five bronzes across three SEA Games.
Caroline has been competing on the European circuit for the past six years, and later on became the first Singaporean rider to compete at the Grand Prix level – the highest level of competition.
To qualify for Tokyo, Caroline registered a personal best of 69.674 at the Dressage Grand Prix in Le Mans, France, surpassing the minimum requirement of 66 needed to qualify for the Games.
7. FENCING - AMITA BERTHIER
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Amita Marie Nicolette Berthier
Date of birth
15 December 2000 (20 years)
Event
Fencing - Women's Foil
Amita Berthier is the first Singaporean fencer to earn a spot at an Olympic Games, with her 15-14 victory over Yana Alborova at the 2021 Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament also making her the first female Singaporean fencer to ever qualify for the Olympics.
The 20 year-old left-handed foil fencer is already a two-time SEA Games Gold Medallist in 2017 and 2019, and was previously ranked as World Junior No. 1 by FIE in 2019, a year that also saw her win the World Junior Foil Title at the Asian Junior and Cadet Fencing Championships in Amman, Jordan.
She is a 2018 Asian Games Medallist after winning Team Bronze with Maxine Wong, Tatiana Wong and Melanie Huang in Jakarta, Indonesia.
8. FENCING - KIRIA TIKANAH
Image credit: National University of Singapore
Athlete
Kiria Tikanah Abdul Rahman
Date of birth
25 June 2000 (20 years)
Event
Fencing - Women's épée
Kiria Tikanah is the first Singaporean épée fencer to qualify for an Olympic Games, and the second female Singaporean fencer to achieve the feat after Amita Berthier.
Her qualification for the Tokyo Games comes just a day after Berthier's, winning her Asia-Oceania Olympic qualification tournament in Tashkent. She is the reigning SEA Games gold medallist for Women's épée after taking gold in 2019 in the Philippines, bringing back the republic's first gold medal in the event since 1989.
The right handed épée fencer has been fencing since she was 8, and has been on the national team since the age of 13.
9. GYMNASTICS - TAN SZE EN
Image credit: Singapore Gymnastics
Athlete
Tan Sze En
Date of birth
19 October 2000 (20 years)
Event
Gymnastics - Individual All-Around
Singaporean Gymnast Tan Sze En is the second gymnast to have qualified for an Olympic Games, after Lim Heem Wei (London 2012).
Sze En turned in a great performance at the World Championships debut in Stuttgart Germany, finishing with an all-around score of 48.098, clinching a spot on the list of qualifiers for the Tokyo Games announced by International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) on 13 October 2019.
The 20 year-old's feat is all the more impressive as she has had to undergo shoulder surgery in August 2018, following the 2018 Asian Games, among a spate of other injuries: a fractured heel (2017), a torn rotator cuff (2018), a partial tear of the lateral collateral ligament (2019), and three consecutive surgeries on her wrists in 2020.
10. ROWING - JOAN POH
Image credit: The Victoria Project
Athlete
Poh Xue Hua Joan
Date of birth
4 April 1991 (30 years)
Event
Rowing - Women's Single Sculls
Singaporean Rower Joan Poh is the second Singapore Rower to qualify for an Olympic Games. Having placed 12th at the Asia and Oceania qualification regatta in Tokyo on 7 May 2021, she faced an anxious 20 day wait before the World Rowing Federation confirmed her spot at this summer's sporting spectacle.
The 30 year-old, who works as a staff nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, has also featured for Team Singapore at the 2018 Asian Games in Palembang, while she also represented Singapore at the Asian Games for dragonboat she in Guangzhou 2010, finishing fourth in the 250m and 500m events.
Joan will be competing in the women's single sculls event, fulfilling a life-long dream as an Olympian. Singapore's first ever rower to have qualified for an Olympics is Saiyidah Aisyah, who featured at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
11. SAILING - RYAN LO
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Ryan Lo Jun Han
Date of birth
26 February 1997 (24 years)
Event
Sailing - Men's Laser
Tokyo 2020 is Singapore sailor Ryan Lo's first ever Olympic Games, after he clinched his spot by winning the Men's Laser event at the Mussanah Open Championship on 8 April 2021. The 24 year-old is also a 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist.
Lo placed 21st in last October's Laser Senior European Championships and Open European Trophy, and has spent much of his time training and competing in Europe over the past year.
12. SAILING - KIMBERLY LIM & CECILIA LOW
Image credit: Facebook
Athlete
Kimberly Lim Min & Cecilia Low Rui Qi
Event
Sailing - Women's 49er FX
Singapore sailors Kimberly Lim and Cecilia Low will be competing in the Women's 49er FX event. They finished 15th in the 49er FX skiff class with 198 points in the Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships in Auckland in 2019 to qualify for this summer's Olympiad.
Lim, 25, and Low, 29, have also won the Asian Games gold medal in 2018. The pair have set-up training camp in Portugal and have been been spending up to six months on end in Europe for the past few years in preparations for the Olympics.
13. SAILING - AMANDA NG
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Amanda Ng Ling Kai
Date of birth
3 May 1994 (27 years)
Event
Sailing - RS:X windsurfing
The Tokyo Olympics is Amanda Ng's second Olympic campaign, having competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the Women's 470 event, in which she placed 20th.
Ng started sailing at the age of 7, following in the footsteps of her brother and father. In 2009, she switched to windsurfing so that she could gain more experience.
She sailed in the 470 class at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with Jovina Choo, and also competed at the 2018 Asian Games for RS:X windsurfing.
14. SHOOTING - ADELE TAN
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Tan Qian Xiu Adele
Date of birth
31 March 1999 (22 years)
Event
Shooting - Women's 10m air rifle
Adele Tan emerged from a group of top shooters after a selection process that took into account four meets - the H&N Cup 2020 Munich and three internal shoots, the last of which took place at Safra Yishun on Saturday, to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She celebrated a gold medal in women's 10m air rifle event at the H&N Cup in 2020, in which she also set a new national record with 252.7 points.
Tan won two bronze medals at the 2019 SEA Games in Philippines, for the women's 10m air rifle and mixed 10m air rifle events.
15. SWIMMING (AQUATICS) - JOSEPH SCHOOLING
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Joseph Isaac Schooling
Date of birth
16 June 1995 (26 years)
Event(s)
Men's 100m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle
Needing no introduction Singapore's only Olympic Gold Medallist Joseph Isaac Schooling will be looking to defend his 100m Butterfly crown he so dramatically won at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, an event which saw him pip childhood idol Michael Phelps to the gold medal.
Even then, he is starting this year's Olympiad as an outsider but his fearsome desire to win more than ever makes him a dangerous athlete to compete against, even if much of his fate is beyond his control.
Schooling will also be competing in the men's 100m Freestyle event, and this is his third Olympic Games.
16. SWIMMING (AQUATICS) - QUAH TING WEN
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Quah Ting Wen
Date of birth
18 August 1992 (28 years)
Event(s)
Women's 50m and 100m Freestyle
Swimmer Quah Ting Wen will be competing at her third Olympic Games in Tokyo after clinching a Universality Place set by FINA, by virtue of being the highest ranked Singapore athlete for the 50m and 100m Women's freestyle events.
Her participation comes after her previous outings at the Rio 2016 Olympics and Beijing 2008 Olympics. The national swimmer made her international debut for Singapore at the 2005 SEA Games, and first made headlines at the 2009 Asian Youth Games when she clinched four gold medals and set three national records in all her individual events.
Quah is also a multiple SEA Games gold medallist and has also competed in two Asian Games and a Commonwealth Games.
17. SWIMMING (AQUATICS) - QUAH ZHENG WEN
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Quah Zheng Wen
Date of birth
29 September 1996 (24 years)
Event(s)
Men's 100m & 200m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke
Swimmer Quah Zheng Wen is a two-time Olympian. He has competed in five events at the 2012 London Olympic Games and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
He made history as Singapore’s first male swimmer to qualify for an Olympic semi-final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and finished 15th (100m Butterfly) and 10th (200m Butterfly) respectively in his last Olympics outing.
Quah was named Most Valuable Male Athlete at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, and is a backstroke specialist who currently holds no fewer than seven national records, four of which are for individual events.
18. SWIMMING (OPEN WATER) - CHANTAL LIEW
Image credit: National University of Singapore
Athlete
Chantal Liew
Date of birth
9 August 1998 (22 years)
Event(s)
Swimming - Women's Open Water
Chantal Liew is the first Singaporean Open Water swimmer to ever qualify for an Olympic Games. Having set herself a target of retiring after the Olympics this year, she was just a swim away from retirement, but met the qualifying mark to secure a spot at the Tokyo Games.
Liew finished 29th in the 10k race in Setubal, Portugal, and the 22-year-old was selected as part of the continental quota as the highest Asian finisher behind two Japanese swimmers of Yumi Kida (12th) and Minami Niikura (19th).
Liew is also the first Singaporean woman to win an open water swimming medal at the SEA Games when she clinched silver at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, with a personal best of 2:21:30 in the women's 10 km open water swim.
19. TABLE TENNIS - CLARENCE CHEW
Image credit: Instagram
Athlete
Clarence Chew Zhe Yu
Date of birth
27 December 1995 (25 years)
Event(s)
Table Tennis - Men's Singles
Clarence Chew made history when he became the first Singaporean born male to qualify for an Olympic Games Table Tennis Men's Singles event.
The 25-year old 2015 SEA Games Gold Medallist and 2019 SEA Games Silver Medallist overcame fellow Singaporean and teammate Koen Pang in the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha on 20 March 2021.
20. TABLE TENNIS - FENG TIANWEI
Image credit: SportSG
Athlete
Feng Tianwei
Date of birth
31 August 1986 (35 years)
Event(s)
Table Tennis - Women's Singles, Women's Team
Feng Tianwei is a multiple medal Olympian who has represented Singapore at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2012 London Olympics, and 2016 Rio Olympics.
Feng made history on 15 August 2008, when she teamed up with Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu to reach the Olympic Finals after defeating South Korea 3–2 in the semifinals for the women's team event.
The team lost to China in the final, but secured silver, Singapore's first Olympic medal in 48 years and its first as an independent nation.
Feng made history again in 2010, when she was part of the team that upset reigning world champions China 3–1 in the Liebherr World Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow, to crown Singapore as world champions for the first time.
21. TABLE TENNIS - YU MENGYU
Image credit: Singapore Table Tennis Association
Athlete
Yu Mengyu
Date of birth
18 August 1989 (32 years)
Event(s)
Table Tennis - Women's Singles, Women's Team
Singapore paddler Yu Mengyu is a multiple medal winner, with her greatest achievement coming in the historic win in the Women's Team event at the 2010 Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow, Russia.
Yu has also represented Singapore at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics (Women's Team and Singles events), and is a multiple silver and bronze medallist at numerous editions of the World Championships, World Cup, Asian Championships, and Asian Games.
She is also a multiple Gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games and SEA Games.
22. TABLE TENNIS - LIN YE
Image credit: Singapore Table Tennis Association
Athlete
Lin Ye
Date of birth
1 February 1996 (25 years)
Event(s)
Table Tennis - Women's Singles, Women's Team
Lin Ye is probably most remembered for her 2015 SEA Games gold medal win when she partnered Zhou Yihan to defeat top seed Feng Tianwei and Yu Mengyu 4–3 to clinch the Women Doubles title.
Later that year, Lin also won the U21 Women's Singles Title in Lisbon, Portugal when she defeated Hamamoto Yui of Japan in the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. She has represented Singapore at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games level, taking bronze at the 2014 Incheon Games, and winning team gold and individual bronze for Glasgow 2014.