RIO DE JANEIRO - Team Singapore's chef de mission for the Olympic Games Low Teo Ping has applauded the contingent for a historic performance at the quadrennial event in his post-Games briefing.

Low, speaking to the media on Friday afternoon, also expressed satisfaction that the 25 representing Singapore concluded their participation at the Rio Games incident-free.

The Games will come to a close at the closing ceremony on Sunday evening (Brazil time), but all Singapore athletes have completed their participation. The Republic won one gold medal, courtesy of Joseph Schooling's Olympic record-breaking swim in the men's 100m butterfly.

Said Low: "Joseph's phenomenal performance... was the highlight for Team Singapore. We are generally pleased with the performance of all the athletes despite some not being able to perform beyond their personal best, bearing in mind that they were competing with the world'e best in their respective disciplines."

The women's table tennis team, in particular, did not manage to win any medals for the first time in three Games.

Added Low: "This has been a challenging Olympic Games right from the outset. Being in South America for the first time, there were health, security and safety issues to be addressed prior to the Games.

"...We are glad that this has been a safe and successful outing for Team Singapore."

Singapore's contingent at the Rio Games is the joint-largest in the Republic's history, on a par with the 2008 Beijing edition. It is also the first time that athletes from all seven sports contested qualified on merit. Only three out of 25 competed based on wildcards, unused quota places or universality places.