Wang Yuegu, Feng Tianwei and Li Jiawei were honoured for their medal-winning efforts at the 2012 London Olympics. From left to right: Jessie Phua (chef de mission), Chan Chun Sing (sports minister), Wang Yuegu, Feng Tianwei, Li Jiawei, Teo Chee Hean (deputy prime minister), Bobby Chin (chairman, Tote Board). (Photo courtesy of Chen Cuifen/Hill+Knowlton)
Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Tuesday, September 25, 2012 – Olympic medallists Feng Tianwei, Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu were honoured by the sports community for their recent bronze-medal wins at the 2012 London Olympics.
The athletes were also presented with S$625,000 in total prize money through the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) Multi-Million Dollar Award Programme (MAP) for their wins.
The prize money is given to the individual athlete but a mandatory percentage is ploughed back into the national sports association. All awards are taxable. Singapore Pools Pte Ltd is the primary sponsor of the SNOC MAP awards.
“Your mental strength and fortitude represent qualities we can all learn from,” said deputy prime minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also the president of the SNOC. “You have blazed the trail and inspired many young people who now dare to dream even bigger because of you!”
At the ceremony held at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the women’s table tennis team comprising Feng Tianwei, Li Jiawei and Wang Yuegu, received a total of S$375,000 for clinching the women’s team bronze medal.
Singapore’s most bemedalled Olympian, Feng Tianwei, was also awarded S$250,000 for clinching the bronze medal in the women’s table tennis singles event. This is Feng’s third Olympic medal, following her silver medal in the women’s team event in Beijing 2008, as well as Singapore’s first ever medal in the women’s table tennis singles event.
“We have had a tough year leading to the London 2012 Olympic Games, and I am very happy that we came together as a team to win two medals for Singapore,” said Feng Tianwei. “The Olympic Games ended our year on a high note, and I also hope that our performance will encourage more Singaporeans to come forward to take up table tennis and bring more glory to our nation.”
In recognition of their gallant efforts, Team Singapore London 2012 athletes were officially inaugurated into the hallowed company of our nation’s Olympians. They were each presented with exclusive International Olympic Committee pins and awarded Olympian Singapore medallions. Each medallion is unique and bears a special number, beginning from the first Olympian who took part in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Other Team Singapore Olympians present to celebrate the achievements of our athletes include local sprint legend Mr C Kunalan from the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico City Games, and Mr Chia Boon Leong from the 1948 London Games, who, at age 87, was the oldest Olympian present at the event. Most notably, Team Singapore’s first ever Olympic medallist Mr Tan Howe Liang, who clinched a silver medal in weightlifting in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, was also present.
23 Team Singapore athletes competed in nine sports at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London from July 27th to August 12th, 2012. They clinched a total of two bronze medals, bettering the nation’s performance at any previous Olympic Games.
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