An 18-year-old university student qualified for next year’s London Olympics in the long jump with a leap of 8.11m at a track and field competition in Taichung yesterday.
The jump by Lin Ching-hsuan of Fujen Catholic University met the 8.1m B standard for Olympic qualification set by the International Association of Athletics Federations last month, making him Taiwan’s first track and field athlete to qualify for the London Games.
“I’ve just given myself the best birthday gift,” said Lin, who will soon turn 19.
Athletes hoping to reach the Olympics must meet either an A or B standard in their particular event. No more than three athletes can represent a country in any particular event and at least one per country can qualify based on the less rigorous B standard.
The A standard in the long jump for men is 8.2m.
Lin became only the third Taiwanese athlete to break the 8m barrier and his distance of 8.11m was the third-best in the country’s history.
Nai Hui-fang holds the national record with a jump of 8.34m at the East Asian Games in Shanghai in 1993. The only other jump greater than Lin’s was an 8.16m effort by Chao Chih-kuo at the National College and University Games in 1995.
The 1.68m tall Lin’s previous best came at the Asian Youth Track and Field Championships last year, where he won gold with a jump of 7.94m.
Track and field is traditionally one of Taiwan’s weakest events in international sporting competitions. The country has not won an Olympic track and field medal since 1968, when Chi Cheng won a bronze medal in the 80m hurdles.
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS