A new documentary featuring Lee Chih-kai (李智凱), the 21-year-old Taiwanese gymnast who won gold in the men’s pommel horse event last week at the Taipei Universiade, is scheduled to be released in October, film director Lin Yu-hsien (林育賢) said.
The documentary Jump Men! (翻滾吧!男人) follows Lee’s development in the sport over the past 15 years, from boyhood to adulthood, from a street performer to a Universiade gold medalist, Lin said.
It shows Lee as a six-year-old performing gymnastics in a market in Yilan to attract customers to his mother’s vegetable stall, the director said.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
Lee went on to become a national athlete, representing Taiwan in last year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and earning a gold medal on Wednesday at the world university games, Lin said.
“Over the past 15 years, Chih-kai has devoted unimaginably painstaking efforts to the sport, which has paid off,” Lin said. “We are proud of him.”
All of Lee’s performances in the ongoing Universiade are being filmed for inclusion in the documentary, Lin said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The message of the new documentary, which is to be released nationwide on Oct. 27, is “never give up,” Lin said, who also directed Jump Ashin! (翻滾吧!阿信), a motivational sports movie inspired by the life story of his gymnast brother, Lin Yu-hsin (林育信),
Jump Ashin, released in 2011, became a box-office hit and stayed in cinemas for three months.
Jump Men! (翻滾吧!男人) is a sequel to the documentary Jump! Boys (翻滾吧!男孩), which features a gymnastics team of seven boys, including Lee, coached by Lin Yu-hsin.
When Lee qualified for the Rio Games, he became the first Taiwanese gymnast in 16 years to make it to the Olympics.
However, a month before the Games, he had a foot injury that forced him to pull out of the men’s all-around competition.
He competed in the pommel horse event in Rio, but did not make it to the finals.
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