Taiwan this weekend won four gold, two silver and one bronze medals at the Tug of War Outdoor World Championship in Mannheim, Germany.
The first two gold medals were won in the women’s 540kg and the mixed under-19 520kg categories on Saturday morning.
The women’s team beat the Netherlands 3-0 in the semi-final, before sweeping Sweden 3-0 for their third consecutive gold medal in the 540kg category, their fifth since 2016, results from the Tug of War International Federation Web site showed.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Tug of War Association via CNA
In the mixed under-19 520kg category, Taiwan edged Switzerland 2-1 for the gold, after beating South Africa in the semi-final.
In the afternoon session, Taiwan beat England 3-0 in the women’s under-23 500kg for their third gold of the day, adding to their golds in the event last year and in 2022.
In the men’s under-23 600kg category, Taiwan lost 3-0 to South Africa for the silver medal, after beating Switzerland in the semi-final.
In yesterday’s early session, Taiwan won its fourth gold of the tournament in the women’s 500kg category, adding to the five golds it has won in the event since 2014, including last year and 2022.
In the men’s under-19 560kg category and the men’s 680 kg category , Taiwan also clinched one more silver and one bronze.
Chinese Taipei Tug of War Association secretary-general Cho Yao-peng (卓耀鵬) said that it was encouraging for Taiwan’s team to perform so well on the first day of the championship.
However, it was important that Taiwan advance to the top four in the women’s 500kg, which it did, and the men’s 640kg categories, which was to be held after press time yesterday, as they are qualifiers for next year’s World Games in Chengdu, China, Cho said.
In another World Games qualifier, the mixed 580kg category, Taiwan did not advance to the top four after a struggle on Saturday afternoon.
Taiwan sent 93 athletes to compete in 12 categories in this year’s championships.
The 2024 Tug of War Outdoor World Championship opened on Thursday and was to end yesterday.
The first two days were open tournaments for individual schools, while the last two days were the championships, the tournament’s official Web site showed.
Taiwanese teams won six medals in the open tournaments.
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