Open-top bus parade for Team Singapore Olympians to be held on Aug 14

PARIS: An open-top bus parade to celebrate Team Singapore’s Olympians will held on Aug 14, it has been announced.
Speaking at a wrap-up news conference for the Paris Olympics on Saturday (Aug 10), Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) chief Su Chun Wei also praised the efforts of the athletes.
“We hope that Singaporeans can come out and cheer on our Olympians as they travel on through an open-top bus through the heart of the city, and we can enjoy … and come together once again as a nation to celebrate these very amazing achievements by all our Olympians,”  he said.
Sport Singapore (SportSG) said that, as of Saturday, eight athletes will take part in the parade. They include Olympic bronze medallist Max Maeder, the badminton mixed doubles pair of Terry Hee and Jessica Tan, as well as swimmer Gan Ching Hwee.
The parade – which will have five “cheer points” – will begin on Bayfront Avenue in front of Marina Bay Sands at 11.45am and take the athletes through Chinatown, Orchard Road, Serangoon Road and Victoria Street. It will pass by the cheer points at these locations at noon, 12.20pm, 12.40pm and 12.45pm respectively.
At the press conference, Dr Su praised the “gritty performances” of Singapore’s athletes and stressed the “very high bar” needed to make the cut for the Games.
A total of 23 athletes across 11 sports represented Singapore at the Paris Olympics. The contingent returns home with a medal – the first in eight years – courtesy of kitefoiler Maeder.
“It has been a journey for each of them, fighting each (of their) way for qualification. Being able to achieve that, to represent the nation here at the world’s largest sporting stage, it’s an outstanding achievement,” said Dr Su.
“We are very, very proud of all our athletes’ hard work, determination, fortitude, and especially their indomitable fighting spirit that they have displayed during these Games.”
Unsurprisingly, he singled out a certain teenager.
“We are immensely proud of his (Maeder’s) performance, and at 17 years old, it is very easy for us to forget that he has achieved what many of us (as) teenagers have not even dared to dream (of) at the world’s largest stage,” said Dr Su.
At the same time, there were other athletes who made “breakthroughs” at the Olympics, despite not finishing on the podium he pointed out.
He named shooter Teh Xiu Hong, swimmer Gan as well as badminton men’s and women’s singles players Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min.
Teh notched up Singapore’s best-ever Olympic finish for a shooter, pointed out Dr Su. Gan set two new national records in her Games debut, while Loh became the first Singaporean in two decades to reach a badminton quarter-final.
“The Singapore contingent – while we are small in numbers, we punch above our weight, and fight with courage and determination,” said Dr Su.
Ultimately, Singapore’s athletes will take home valuable lessons from the Paris Games, he said.
“We are very confident that this experience will spur them on to do much better in all their future sporting endeavours.”