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.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS