Taiwan’s Cheng Cheng-yu (鄭丞佑) yesterday clinched a gold medal in the boys’ gymnastics vault event at the ISF U15 Gymnasiade in Zlatibor, Serbia.
Cheng scored 13.566 and 11.900 points for his two vaults, with an average score of 12.733.
He also won silver in the floor event and a bronze as part of Taiwan’s team in the team event on Monday.
Photo: CNA
Gymnastics is just one of 25 sports featured at the Gymnasiade, also known as the U15 World School Sport Games, and one of 12 in which Taiwan is fielding competitors.
The results were an ideal birthday gift for Cheng, who turns 15 on Saturday.
In his third year in the junior-high division of Taipei Municipal Datong High School, Cheng is the son of Taiwan’s national gymnastics coach Cheng Kun-chieh (鄭焜杰).
His father told the Central News Agency that the moves Cheng Cheng-yu can perform on the vault are quite advanced for his age, “so before we set off I thought he should be able to win a medal. It was just a matter of the color.”
Taiwan’s 133-member delegation to the Gymnasiade, which runs until Monday next week consists of 75 athletes, 28 coaches and 30 other staff.
The 75 athletes are participating in 12 sports — archery, track and field, badminton, boxing, breakdancing, artistic gymnastics, judo, karate, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and tennis.
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