Paris Olympics 2024: 11 Singaporean Athletes To Watch

Will Singapore clinch her second Olympic gold medal with this talented line-up?

Photo: Courtesy of The Straits Times — Photos: Courtesy of The Straits Times

By Tara Amelia Sharil - published 25 Jul 2024

The 2024 Paris Olympics will commence on Friday, 26 July, and the world’s largest sporting event will see over 10,500 athletes competing across 32 sports. There’s no better time to proudly wave the Singapore flag as 23 Singaporean athletes enter their final stages of preparation and compete in the Games.

From up-and-coming prodigies to well-known veterans, here are the top athletes to watch at this year’s Games. Will this talented lineup follow in the footsteps of Joseph Schooling—who won Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal at the Rio Games in 2016—and clinch the country’s second gold medal?

Shanti Pereira

With several national records under her belt, Singapore’s Sprint Queen Shanti Pereira is set to compete in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints in her second attempt at the Olympics. Pereira is the first Singaporean to qualify for the Olympics 200m event by meeting the World Athletics qualifying standards. She currently holds the national record for the 100m, 200m and 400m events; and held the title as first in Asia for both the 100m and 200m in 2023. All eyes will be on Pereira as she heads into the race as the fastest woman in Southeast Asia.

Loh Kean Yew

Ranked thirteenth in the Badminton World Federation, Loh Kean Yew will be making his third appearance on the Olympic stage as he heads into the Men’s Badminton Singles. The two-time Olympian and former men’s singles world champion won the title at the 2021 BWF World Championships, becoming the first Singaporean to achieve this feat. Going into the Paris Olympics with more experience under his belt, Loh is gearing up against 63rd-ranked Jan Louda from the Czech Republic.

Terry Hee & Jessica Tan

Husband-and-wife duo Terry Hee and Jessica Tan are set to make their Olympic debut in the mixed doubles for badminton. In 2022, the duo took home gold in the Commonwealth Games, a first for Singapore. Their Olympic dream was finally achieved when they were offered a spot at the Games after Australia did not take up their spot for the mixed doubles tournament in Paris. The two are the first mixed doubles pair to represent the country since the 2008 Olympics, where Hendri Saputra and Li Yujia competed.

Amita Berthier

The last time Amita Berthier was in the Olympics, she was 20 years old. She made history as the first Singaporean to secure an Olympic spot through a qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Games. Berthier’s achievements include a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, gold at the 2019 SEA Games, and bronze at the 2023 Asian Fencing Championships. Making her second run in the 2024 Paris Olympics, the fencer will definitely be a force to be reckoned with.

Shannon Tan

In her first year of becoming a collegiate golfer at Texas Tech University, Shannon Tan was ranked fourth in women’s golf in the United States. Six months later, Tan left college, turned professional, and won the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in her Ladies European Tour debut. At the age of 20, she is the first Singaporean golfer to qualify for the Olympics in our country’s history and among 60 female golfers competing at the Games.

Maximilian Maeder

Not only is Maximilian Maeder proudly representing Singapore when kitefoiling makes its Olympics debut come August, he’s also a heavy favourite to win the competition. Ranked first in the Formula Kite rankings, Maeder is the current Formula Kite World, Asian and European Champion. The 17-year-old Olympic medal contender is currently ranked third in the world.

Saiyidah Aisyah

With several SEA medals to her name and a 2016 Rio Olympic appearance, rower Saiyidah Aisyah has done it all. Her road to Rio was by no means easy; she drained her savings and took to crowdfunding to raise money for her training and living expenses to fund her Olympic dream. The first Singaporean rower to qualify for the Olympics finished 23rd at the Rio Games. After retiring in 2017, decided to make a comeback and landed another shot at the Olympics. The 36-year-old will be Singapore’s oldest Olympian competing this year, heading to Paris as a better athlete with a different perspective.

Gan Ching Hwee

Talent doesn’t cut it when describing Gan Ching Hwee. At just 21 years old, Gan has already won nine gold SEA medals in both sprint and distance swimming within two years. With her long list of accomplishments, it’s no surprise that Gan is slated to compete in three events for Singapore—the 800-metre, 1500-metre freestyle, and the 4x100 medley relay. While Gan was expected to compete in the distance events, her entry in the 4x100 medley relay came as a shocking surprise when she was picked over veteran swimmer Quah Ting Wen at the very last second. Despite all the buzz surrounding the 4x100 medley lineup, Gan is sure to make her Olympic debut with a splash.

Jonathan Tan

A multiple-time medallist in the Asian Games and the Southeast Asian Games, Jonathan Tan is making his Olympic debut with the 50-metre and 100-metre freestyle. During the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia, Tan not only met the Olympic “A” cut in the 50-metre freestyle, he also breezed past the 21.95 qualifying time by 0.4 seconds. Besides qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in his career, the talented swimmer has also managed to set a national record, an impressive feat on its own.

Izaac Quek

At the age of 17, Izaac Quek is a force to be reckoned with. The young table tennis player became the first Singaporean to become World No.1 in the Under-15 boys ITTF world ranking list in 2021, and went on to win gold in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games. His most impressive feat to date is beating 41-year-old Thai veteran Phakpoom Sanguasin in the men’s singles final at the South East Asia Regional Olympic Qualification to secure his spot at the Parisian Games.