Weightlifter Hsu Shu-ching (許淑淨) on Sunday won Taiwan’s first gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, lifting a total of 212kg in the women’s 53kg group.
Hsu lifted 100kg in the snatch and 112kg in the clean and jerk.
The 25-year-old student beat the Philippine’s Hidilyn Diaz, who won silver, South Korea’s Yoon Jin-hee, who won bronze, and China’s Li Yajun (黎雅君).
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
Hsu could gain another Olympic gold, as she is expected to be promoted from second place in the 2012 London Olympics after the gold medalist — Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan — tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs just before the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Under amended regulations governing the issuance of Guo Guang Athletic Medals and Scholarships (國光體育獎章及獎助學金頒發辦法) and additional prize money offered by the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee for gold medalists in the Rio Games, Hsu is to be awarded NT$30 million (US$952,018).
The Ministry of Education last year approved amendments raising the prize money for winners of gold medals in the Olympic Games to NT$20 million, with NT$7 million and NT$5 million for silver and bronze medal winners respectively.
Photo: EPA
The committee is to award Hu an additional NT$10 million.
After receiving the medal, Hsu said that her performance was better than she had expected, adding that she was worried about a thigh injury she sustained three weeks ago.
Hsu, who is from a rural area of Lunbei Township (崙背) in Yunlin County, said she plans to donate a portion of her prize money to her alma mater, Kaohsiung Municipal Wunshan Senior High School.
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
In Taipei yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Lin Chuan (林全) sent congratulatory messages to Hsu.
Tsai thanked Taiwanese athletes at the Rio Games for giving their best, saying Taiwanese are proud of them, Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said.
Hsu’s father, Hsu Yung-ming (許永明), said he was overjoyed by the news.
Photo: AP
Also on Sunday, archers Tan Ya-ting (譚雅婷), Lei Chien-ying (雷千瑩) and Lin Shih-chia (林詩嘉) beat their Italian opponents to take the women’s team bronze medal.
It was Taiwan’s first Olympic archery medal since the men’s team won a silver medal and the women’s team the bronze in the Athens Games in 2004. Tan and Lei are to each receive NT$5 million in prize money.
The Athens Games also saw two of Taiwan’s taekwondo athletes win the nation’s first-ever gold medals: Chen Shih-hsin (陳詩欣) in the women’s under-49kg division and Chu Mu-yen (朱木炎) in men’s under-58kg division.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
OTHER OPTIONS: Given possible US intervention and Taiwanese counterattacks, China might opt to blockade Taiwan or take its outlying islands instead of an all-out invasion A US think tank has urged Taiwan to adopt a “hellscape” strategy that would flood the Taiwan Strait with drones and other uncrewed systems to deter invasion by China. In its report, Hellscape for Taiwan, published on Thursday, the Center for a New American Security said Taipei’s asymmetric defense approach — often described as a “porcupine strategy” — needs to evolve to keep pace with the growing capabilities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The “hellscape” strategy involves saturating the air and waters around Taiwan with thousands of drones and other platforms capable of striking invading forces from multiple domains at once. Long-range
RSS