Joseph Schooling Olympics: How did the Singaporean swimmer perform at the 2016 Olympics?

Joseph Schooling happens to be the only athlete from Singapore to have won an Olympic gold medal. At the 2016 Olympics that took place in Rio de Janeiro, he finished on top of the podium in the final of the 100-metre butterfly after beating the likes of Michael Phelps, Chad le Clos, and Laszlo Cseh.

En route to his stupendous performance, Schooling also broke Phelps’ eight-year-old Olympic record. Back in 2008 in Beijing, Phelps set an Olympic record with a time of 50.58 seconds. In 2016, Schooling shattered the record after clocking 50.39 seconds.

Phelps, who finished with 28 Olympic medals in his career, including 23 gold, managed a time of 51.14 seconds to finish second in Rio. As far as Joseph Schooling is concerned, he also became the second man from his country to bag an Olympic medal after Tan Howe Liang won silver in weightlifting back in 1960.

Schooling had his grand uncle Lloyd Valberg to look up to for inspiration. Valberg happens to be the first athlete from Singapore to take part in the Olympics back in 1948. Joseph did not qualify for the heats at the Tokyo Olympics.

Overall, Joseph Schooling won one gold medal in the Olympics, seven medals in the Asian Games, two bronze medals in the world championships, a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games and 34 medals in the South East Asian Games.

---

Joseph Schooling pulls the curtains down on career

On Tuesday, Schooling decided to retire from swimming. He dropped a post on his social media account to make the announcement.

“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter. I will be retiring from competitive swimming. I am filled with gratitude for my experience that swimming has brought into my life,” he wrote.

Back in May 2022, Joseph Schooling last played at the competitive level in the Southeast Asian Games that took place in Vietnam.