Singapore at the Olympics

Singapore has sent athletes to most Summer Olympics held since 1948, when it was established as a separate British Crown Colony from the Straits Settlements just over three months before the commencement of the 1948 Summer Olympics. It continued to send a team to the Games until 1964 when Singapore was part of Malaysia, which sent a combined team. Upon Singapore's full independence from Malaysia in 1965, the country continued to participate in all subsequent editions of the Summer Olympics except in 1980 when the country participated in a large Olympic boycott. Singapore made their Winter Olympics debut at the 2018 Winter Olympics, with speed skater, Cheyenne Goh, competing in the short track speed skating event.[1][2][3]

Singapore at the Olympics
IOC code	SGP
NOC	Singapore National Olympic Council
Website	www.singaporeolympics.com
Medals	Gold 1 Silver 2 Bronze 2 Total 5
Summer appearances
1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winter appearances
2018 2022
Other related appearances
Malaysia (1964)

The country has won five Olympic medals, the inaugural was at the 1960 Summer Olympics, the second at the 2008 Summer Olympics[4] and the third and fourth at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[5] At the 2016 Summer Olympics Singapore won their first ever gold medal and the fifth overall.[6]

Singapore's first Olympic medal was won by Tan Howe Liang, who won silver in lightweight weightlifting in 1960. The first Olympic gold medal was won by Joseph Schooling in the men's 100 metre butterfly at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In table tennis, Jing Jun Hong and Li Jiawei came close to winning medals by finishing in fourth place at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics respectively. Singapore sent a big contingent to the Beijing Olympics, and many felt that with many top table tennis players in Singapore's squad, this was their best chance of winning a medal since 1960 – they were proven right.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Li Jiawei, together with Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu, beat the South Korea Women's Table Tennis team, composed of Dang Ye-Seo, Kim Kyung-Ah and Park Mi-Young 3-2 in the semi-finals, assuring Singapore of at least a silver medal and ending Singapore's 48-year Olympic medal drought. Singapore faced host China in the gold medal final.[7]

In the 2012 London Olympics, Feng Tianwei beat Kasumi Ishikawa from Japan 4-0 in the Table Tennis Women's Singles Bronze Medal Match, winning Singapore's first individual Olympic medal in 52 years. In the Table Tennis Women's Team Bronze Medal Match, Li Jiawei, together with Feng Tianwei and Wang Yuegu, beat the South Korea team composing Dang Ye-Seo, Kim Kyung-Ah and Seok Ha-Jung 3-0, winning another bronze medal.

The two bronze medals won at the 2012 London Summer Olympics marked the first time that Singapore won more than one medal in an Olympiad.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Olympic swimmer Joseph Schooling won a gold medal in the Men's 100 metre butterfly in an Olympics record of 50.39 seconds, beating joint second Michael Phelps, Chad le Clos, and László Cseh by 0.75 seconds. This is also the first ever gold Olympic medal by a Southeast Asian male swimmer and the first Olympic gold that Singapore achieved.[8][9][10][11]

To date, athletes from Singapore have won a total of 5 medals at the Olympics including 1 gold.