Neither Schooling or Phelps knew it at the time, but that brief encounter helped inspire Schooling to not only win Singapore’s first Olympic gold medal but also slay his childhood hero in his final individual race, the 100 metres butterfly, at Rio on Friday. By the time Phelps had finished re-writing the records books in China, Schooling’s mind was already made up. They’re once in a lifetime, particularly in small nations,” Sport Singapore’s head of high performance Richard Gordon told AFP. No Singaporean had ever won an Olympic medal in swimming so Schooling’s bid captured the imagination of the whole country. “This isn’t as tragic as that but this is Singapore’s Kennedy moment, where people will remember when Joseph Schooling won gold at the Olympics.

Source: New Strait Times August 13, 2016 01:41 UTC