SINGAPORE – Following Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling’s retirement announcement on April 2, tributes have poured in from President Tharman Shanmugaratnam andSingapore’s political leaders, who congratulated him on a successful career and thanked him for his contributions.

President Tharman said in a social media post: “Few dream of making it to the Olympics. Even fewer can dream of winning a gold and breaking the Olympics record, like Joseph Schooling did. But what Joseph did was show us what it means to have the hunger to excel. To go beyond what others think we are capable of. And to make our own dreams, big or small, come true.