Taiwanese swimmer Cho Cheng-chi on Friday won gold in the men’s 10km race at the Asian Open Water Swimming Championship in Hong Kong.
In a tight race, Cho finished in a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 40.2 seconds, just 0.1 seconds faster than the silver medalist, Thailand’s Ratthawit Thammananthachote.
Cho was crowned Asian champion for the first time in the event, having clinched silver on three previous occasions.
Photo courtesy of Cho Cheng-chi’s coach Liu Yao-chang
Cho told reporters that his mental condition had been unsatisfactory since the Asian Games concluded in October last year. After missing the opportunity to compete at the Paris Olympics and considering his age, he thought about retiring from the sport.
However, his coach Liu Yao-chang communicated with him and they agreed that he should take a long break instead of retiring, Cho said.
After returning to training in June, he signed up for the Kinmen Long-Distance Open Water Swim in July.
However, with his mental state unimproved, Cho said he again contemplated stepping back from swimming to focus on his master’s degree.
Liu urged him “to not quit so early,” which convinced him to compete in the Asian Championships and return to training in September, he said.
Cho said he only had a little over a month of intense training and Liu did not dare to drill him too hard, so he was only at about 70 to 80 percent of his peak ability in Hong Kong.
Despite that, Cho said he felt his training was solid, adding that he was happy to finally win gold.
“A gold medal depends a lot on the state and luck during the race,” he said. “Now that I’m in the final stage of my [professional swimming] career, this [medal] means a lot to me.”
Cho said he was most grateful to Liu.
“It’s the coach who kept discussing things with me. You could say that this medal was obtained with his incessant training,” he said. “I only resumed training a month ago, but he still thought I had a chance and that helped me to achieve this milestone.”
Taiwan’s Teng Yu-wen won bronze in the women’s 10km event with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes, 23.8 seconds.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
RSS