2024 SILVER, 2028 GOLD

Tan, who will receive 300k for historic medal, aims to be tops at next edition

- David Lee

With a historic Paralympic gold on the line, nerves took hold of boccia player Jeralyn Tan on Sept 2, when she ran a 5-0 deficit halfway through her women's individual BC1 final against Frenchwoman Aurelie Aubert.

The Singaporean, 35, rallied bravely at the South Paris Arena 1 and almost forced a tiebreak. But she eventually lost 5-4 in a tearful and thrilling encounter that kept spectators in Paris and back home on the edge of their seats.

Still, there were happy tears at the end for Tan, who claimed a historic Paralympic silver in the sport.

In doing so, she became the Republic's fourth Paralympic medallist after swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, and equestrienne Laurentia Tan.

Tan said: "I'm proud of this achievement. I was nervous but overall this was a good experience for me. Learning from the mistakes will only make me a stronger player."

Yip won two golds at these Games, taking her tally to seven, while Laurentia will compete alongside teammates Gemma Foo and Hilary Su from Sept 3.

Swimmer Toh Wei Soong also kicks off his Paris campaign in the 100m backstroke S7 heats on the same day.

Boccia means "to bowl" in Italian. The aim of the game, played by wheelchair-using athletes with motor-skill impairment, is to bowl balls as close as possible to a white target ball known as the jack.