Paralympics: Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu wins Singapore's first gold in Tokyo

SINGAPORE - Swimmer Yip Pin Xiu successfully retained her 100m backstroke (S2) title at the Tokyo Paralympics on Wednesday (Aug 25) after she placed first in the final at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

She took the gold medal in 2min 16.61sec, ahead of Japan's Miyuki Yamada (2:26.18) and Mexico's Fabiola Ramirez (2:36.54).

Earlier on Wednesday, the 29-year-old had topped the heats in 2:14.46 to set a new season best.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Yip had won the event in a world record time of 2min 7.09sec.

Yip's gold is Singapore's first medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, which started on Tuesday and will end on Sept 5.

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Fellow swimmer Sophie Soon and tandem cyclists Steve Tee and Ang Kee Meng, all Paralympic debutantes, were also in action on Wednesday.

Soon clocked 1min 28.61sec in the 100m butterfly (S13) heats to come in last of 18 swimmers, while Tee and Ang achieved a personal best of 4min 40.453sec in the men's B 4,000m individual pursuit to finish ninth of 14 pairs.

Yip's next event will be the 50m backstroke (S2) on Sept 2, in which she also holds the world record.

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