Taiwanese judoka Lee Kai-lin (李凱琳) won Taiwan’s first medal at the London Paralympics on Thursday by reaching the final of the women’s under-48kg weight class.
The visually impaired Lee, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in her weight division, won silver after losing to Carmen Brussig of Germany in the event’s gold-medal bout.
The 35-year-old Brussig scored a waza-ari against her Taiwanese opponent, who was only able to manage a yuko.
Photo: CNA
In judo, an ippon is the highest score given for a throw or pin and it immediately ends a match. A waza-ari is the second highest score in the three-tier scoring system and it trumps a yuko, no matter how many are scored.
During their previous encounter at the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA) world championships in Turkey last year, Lee defeated Brussig to win gold.
In her Paralympics debut this year, the 20-year-old Lee frustrated Solene Laclau of France to advance to the semi-finals and then moved on to the gold medal encounter by defeating 30-year-old Karla Ferreira Cardoso of Brazil by two yuko to one.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) and Sports Affairs Council Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) sent congratulatory messages to Lee shortly after her success.
Lee, who suffers from congenital optic nerve atrophy and has very weak vision, took up judo when she was in second grade at school.
She said her grandfather started the family tradition of learning judo because many family members suffered from the eye disease and he thought mastering judo could be a way for them to protect themselves.
In high school, Lee’s coach refused to give her “special treatment” and made her train with other athletes who were not visually impaired.
That method toughened her and played a role in helping her win the gold medal at the IBSA judo world championships in Turkey in 2010.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS