It's a Gold for Joseph Schooling! And an Olympic record!

How significant is Schooling's swim?

His time of 50.39 is an Olympic record and the first ever Olympic Gold for Singapore.

His effort surpasses the republic's first individual Olympic silver medal since 1960, when Tan Howe Liang claimed silver in weightlifting in Rome.

Schooling faced tough competition which included the likes of butterfly specialist László Cseh of Hungary, two-time world champion Chad le Clos of South Africa and his childhood idol Michael Phelps, winner of 22 Olympic gold medals.

Instead, the three tied for second place behind him, and like true sportsmen, swam over to gave him congratulatory hugs and hair-ruffles:

And of course, the (small) group of Singaporeans gathered, including his mom May Schooling, goes wild:

Fellow swimmer Tao Li came closest as she was previously the only Singaporean to qualify for the finals, finishing fifth in the 100m butterfly at the Beijing 2008 Games.

Singapore's women's table tennis team won a team silver at the Beijing 2008 Games.

Top image: Screenshot from Toggle

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