Taiwan has sent three athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics which begin today in Sochi, Russia.
In the men’s singles of the luge, Taiwan is represented by 19-year-old Lien Te-an of New Taipei City’s Tungnan University.
Lien took up the sport at the age of 14 during his second year of junior-high school after he was encouraged by a coach who noticed his potential.
Photo: AFP
Lien received an Olympic Solidarity scholarship from the International Olympic Committee to help him prepare for the Games.
“Most of my training is done in Europe or America, so it can be very expensive. Any support, no matter how small, can be very useful,” he said.
Lien said his most memorable sporting achievement so far was finishing 20th at the 2012 Youth Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, and he is looking forward to enjoying the experience in Sochi before targeting a top-10 finish at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeonchang, South Korea.
Photo: AFP
Lien is scheduled to compete tomorrow and on Sunday.
Sung Ching-yang is representing Taiwan in the men’s speed skating, in both the 500m and the 1,000m.
Born in New Taipei City, 21-year-old Sung began inline skating at the age of three, before switching to speedskating at 11.
His most memorable achievement was winning two gold medals at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, and his best finish in World Cup meetings this season was 11th in the 500m in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Sung is due to compete in the 500m on Monday next week and in the 1,000m on Wednesday next week.
Taiwan’s third competitor is Mackenzie Blackburn in the men’s short track, also in both the 500m and the 1,000m.
Blackburn, 21, was born in Canada to a Canadian father and a Taiwanese mother, Fay Lu, who has worked as a short track speedskating coach.
Blackburn’s best finish in World Cup meeting this year was 13th in the 500m in Kolomna, Russia.
He is due to compete in the 1,000m on Thursday next week and in the 500m on Feb. 18.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS