Taiwan will send seven men to the upcoming winter Olympic Games, the Taiwan luge and bobsled association confirmed yesterday.
Though it was expected that the nation's four-man bobsled team (with one spare) would be going to Salt Lake City, Utah, the association had been waiting to see if its two-man luge team would qualify.
Having done enough at the just-concluded Luge World Cup in Germany, the sport's governing body, the Federation Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing confirmed over the weekend that Taiwan had collected sufficient points to qualify for the Olympics.
Chinese Taipei Amateur Luge and Bobsleigh Association Honorary President Hsu Chi-you (
"It's magnificent. Our athletes have trained long and hard all over the world to achieve these results, so naturally we are very happy."
Hsu said he hoped that President Chen Shui-bian (
Previously, the National Council of Physical Education and Sports had said that its chairman, Hsu Yi-hsiung (
"We are still working for the president to do the flag handing-over ceremony, since this is one of the greatest honors for our athletes," Hsu said.
"They would definitely be inspired by this, but we don't know yet whether it will happen."
The two luge athletes confirmed for the Olympics are Lee Chia-Hsun (李佳訓) and Lin Chuei-pin (林垂賓).
Lee, 25, is a student at the Taipei Municipal Sports College and was a promising athlete and swimmer. After serving in the army for three years he attended the nation's luge school and has attended events in Asia, Europe and the US to train and qualify.
Lin graduated from National Taiwan Normal University, majoring in geography. He was also a swimmer and is now a junior high school teacher in Taipei County.
They join the five-man bobsled team which comprises Chen Chin-san (陳金山), Chen Chien-sheng (陳建盛), Chen Chien-li (陳建立), Steve Lee (李嘉展) and Lin Ruei-ming (林瑞明).
In other news yesterday, the bobsled world was rocked by the disqualification of Pavle Jovanovic from the US team after failing a drug test.
The 25-year-old from New Jersey tested positive for a steroid, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Sunday, according to AP news agency.
In a statement, the US bobsled and skeleton federation said Jovanovic would appeal and claimed the athlete had not "intentionally cheated."
Taiwan's bobsled association president, Hsu said the country's Winter Games athletes were closely monitored and he did not expect any doping problems.
"We always pay a lot of attention to this. We always say don't take any medicines even if they [the athletes] have a cold."
Hsu said that lessons had been learned from the Sydney Olympic Games, when two athletes were sent home .
"A couple of weightlifters at the Summer Games were disqualified, so we have taken note and taken steps to prevent any problems."
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