Paralympics: Singapore's Jeralyn Tan wins historic silver medal in boccia
SINGAPORE - Five thrilling days of competition ended with another brave performance and a silver lining for Singaporean boccia player Jeralyn Tan.
Despite a dramatic 5-4 defeat by Frenchwoman Aurelia Aubert in the women’s individual BC1 final on Sept 2, Jeralyn Tan still managed to claim a historic Paralympic silver for Singapore.
In doing so, the 35-year-old debutante became only the Republic’s fourth Paralympic medallist after swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, and equestrienne Laurentia Tan. Yip won two golds at these Games, taking her tally to seven, while Laurentia will compete from Sept 3.
Jeralyn’s silver from Paris will see her collect $300,000 as part of the Singapore National Paralympic Council’s Athletes Achievement Awards scheme. In 2022, the cash incentive for a Paralympic silver medal was raised from $200,000 to $300,000 for the Paris Games.
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.