Two local politicians on Monday visited Chiayi County resident Wu Tzu-min (吳姿忞) to congratulate her on her taekwondo accomplishments and highlighted the many difficulties she has had to overcome to reach a high level in the sport.
Wu won the gold medal in the under-46kg division at the Sarawak Chief Minister Borneo Cup International Taekwondo Championship in Kuching, Malaysia, in the middle of last month.
The two-yearly tournament, which started in 2007, has featured world-class athletes from around the world.
Photo: CNA
That success came after Wu won the bronze medal at the Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships and silver at the Kazakhstan Open Taekwondo Championships in April.
Chiayi Deputy Commissioner Jeff Wu (吳芳銘) said that Wu Tzu-min was injured by firecrackers at age six, resulting in major burns to her back, after which she took up dance as a form of rehabilitation.
In her last year of elementary school, Wu Tzu-min’s parents separated, which resulted in her quitting dancing and taking up free taekwondo lessons offered by an instructor, who motivated the girl.
Even though she started learning taekwondo relatively late compared with her peers, she trained hard to represent Chiayi, winning gold at a national junior-high school women’s taekwondo competition.
On Monday, Shueishang Township (水上) Mayor Liu Ching-hsiang (劉敬祥) told Wu Tzu-min to continue to make Chiayi proud and not worry about securing funding for competition and travel expenses, saying that people were willing to support her as the pride of Chiayi.
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