5 things to know about Yip Pin Xiu, Singapore's six-time Paralympic gold medallist

SINGAPORE: Singapore swim star Yip Pin Xiu has notched a remarkable three-peat of Paralympic golds in the women's 100m backstroke S2, after emerging victorious at the Paris Games on Friday (Aug 30).

The 32-year-old previously won gold at the 2016 and 2021 Paralympics, and is also the world record-holder.

Here's what you should know about Singapore's most decorated Paralympian.

Yip was born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, which causes the progressive loss of muscle tissue and touch. She has been wheelchair-bound from her early teens.

She started swimming when she was five, as a weekly family activity with her brothers.

After being talent-scouted, she began to swim competitively at the age of 12.

"There are no obstacles, no hindrances. I can do what anybody else can do. It (the water) was where I truly found myself," she has said.

Growing up, Yip faced a number of challenges. 

People would stare at her on the street and some classmates would ostracise her while teachers turned a blind eye.

"Primary 1 to Primary 4 was a bit tough because when kids are younger, they don't know how to react to different people. As long as somebody is different from them, they treat them differently," she said in a podcast last year.

"I had to go through different things, but because of all this, it made me really tough."

After representing Singapore at a number of international meets, Yip made her Paralympic debut at Beijing 2008.

There, she won gold in the 50m backstroke S3 and took silver in the 50m freestyle S3 events. 

That was Singapore's first-ever Paralympic gold.

A public outcry then erupted after it emerged that athletes back then received S$100,000 (US$76,800) for a Paralympic gold, under the Singapore National Paralympic Council’s (SNPC)