The winner of Taiwan’s first-ever Olympic gold medal, Mr. Chu Mu-yen dedicated his achievement to the people of Taiwan. He and Ms. Chen Shih-hsin, also from Taiwan, both won Olympic gold medals in men’s and women’s Taekwondo on Aug. 26 in Athens, Greece.
Mr. Chu won his gold medal on Aug. 26 by beating Mr. Oscar Francisco Salazar of Mexico 5-1, while Ms. Chen defeated Ms.Yanelis Yuliet Labrada of Cuba 5-4 in the finals on the same day.
During their medal ceremonies, Ms. Chen cried while Mr. Chu watched stoically as the Olympic flag of Chinese Taipei was raised. “I would like to dedicate this medal to everyone in Taiwan,’’ Mr. Chen said afterward. “I’m pretty sure that everyone in Taiwan will be happy for the gold medals won today.’’
Mr. Chu opened the post-medal ceremony press conference by saying “I am from Taiwan” in English, apparently not wanting to be misinterpreted by his translator or wrongly associated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Mr. Chu then said in his native language “I must thank my family and my government.’’
Taiwan’s Huang Chih-hsiung also won a silver medal in Taekwondo on Aug. 27
Taiwan is not permitted to compete in the Olympics under its official name, the Republic of China, owing to pressure put on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by the PRC. Instead, Taiwan competes in international sporting events under the moniker “Chinese Taipei.” For the same reason, Taiwan athletes do not get to hear their country’s national anthem during Olympic medal ceremonies. An IOC-sanctioned “Song of the National Flag” is played instead. Nevertheless, people all over Taiwan stayed up late into the night to watch the matches on television and celebrate the victories of their new national heroes.
