Nine Taiwan Olympic heroes yesterday returned to Taiwan and took part in a parade from one end of Taipei to the other to join in a public celebration of their accomplishments in the Athens Olympics -- two gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
The nine heroes were the three taekwondo athletes Chu Mu-yen (
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Along with a horde of government officials eager to capitalize on the popularity of the athletes, the nine olympic heroes arrived at CKS International Airport at 12:39pm after a 14-hour flight from Athens.
According to local TV reports, the Taiwanese athletes were squeezed into the economy cabin, while the officials enjoyed the business class.
During the stopover in Bangkok, only Chu and Chen Shih-hsin were upgraded to the business class cabin.
At the airport, the nine athletes were welcomed by a group of more than 500 people, including family members, teachers and friends, as they walked out of the customs check point.
After a short press conference at the airport to show their gratitude for the support they received throughout the Olympics, they boarded a bus to Sungshan Senior High School, where the parade began.
The parade was initially scheduled to begin at 1:30pm but was delayed until 3pm. All nine athletes and their families were driven through the streets in 11 convertible Jeeps.
Their first stop was the Mitsukoshi department store in front of the Warner Village movie theater complex. There, Huang spoke on behalf of his fellow athletes and said that they would like to encourage more Taiwanese athletes to work hard for their goals.
"Taiwan No. 1! We are the toughest!" Huang said. "It is just a start. There will be more of us who win medals in the Olympics in the future."
Chu said that he really appreciated Huang's withdrawal from the men's 58kg division and participation in the men's 68kg division instead so he would have a chance to win the gold medal.
"`Brother Hsiung' [Chu] could have won a medal in the division for himself as well if he did not give me the chance," Chu said. "I am so grateful, so proud and so happy that he still won a silver medal although he challenged another tougher division. He is truly a role model for us."
More than 5,000 motorists, scooter riders, sports fans and pedestrians joined the parade to celebrate the sports stars yesterday afternoon. They yelled, honked their horns, or simply clapped as the 11 Jeeps passed by.
At approximately 6pm, they arrived at the Taipei Armed Forces Hero House (
Regarding a local Chinese-language newspaper's reporting that a Hong Kong filmmaker is planning to make a film based on Chen Shih-hsin's story, the gold medal taekwondo athlete said that she did not have an opinion on which actress should play her in the movie.
"If they want me to do it myself, I will consider that, too," Chen Shih-hsin said. "But I do hope that it is an encouraging movie for our teenagers who are facing difficulties in their life, who do not know what to do or what to believe. I have been through all that and I really want to help them if I can."
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