Taiwan wins record 36 medals at 2015 Universiade

2015/07/15

Taiwan athletes won six golds, 12 silvers and 18 bronzes at the Summer Universiade July 3-14 in Gwangju, South Korea, placing 10th among 64 countries and territories participating in the biennial sporting event.

A record 36-medal tally saw the team eclipse its previous best of 32 in Shenzhen four years ago, according to Sports Administration Director-General Ho Jow-fei. “Our 236-member contingent this year is the largest and strongest ever, and has indeed achieved commensurate results,” he said.

The six golds were in archery, women’s recurve team; baseball, men; table tennis, men’s doubles; taekwondo, women’s 46 kilograms; and tennis, women’s singles and team.

“In addition to the gold medalists, many Taiwan athletes delivered stellar performance during the games, especially in badminton mixed team, taekwondo women’s 53 kilograms and 67 kilograms, and tennis men’s doubles and singles,” Ho added.

Taiwan debuted in or returned after hiatuses in several sports this year, including men’s basketball, football and volleyball. The strategy paid handsome dividends, with the volleyballers defying the form guide to place fourth.

Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je, who was in Gwangju representing the ROC as host nation of the next games Aug. 19-30, 2017, congratulated the athletes at the closing ceremony. Taipei won the right to stage the event four years ago, which is expected to attract 12,000 athletes and officials from more than 160 countries and territories.

“The 2017 Summer Universiade is set to be the largest international sporting event ever hosted in Taiwan,” Ko said. “We invite all participants to visit Taipei and savor its diverse culture, friendly locals, spectacular views and urban charms.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=232553&ctNode=413)