Taiwanese teams picked up four gold medals and one bronze on the first two days of the Tug of War World Outdoor Championships in Switzerland.
The four gold medals were won on Thursday and Friday in the under-23 women’s 500kg category, the under-23 mixed 560kg, the mixed 580kg and the women’s 540kg.
A team of young Taiwanese pullers from Taoyuan Municipal Shou Shan Senior High School also bagged bronze in the men’s 560kg junior category.
Photo courtesy of Chris Roos (chrisroosfotografie.ch) and Seilzieh-WM 2023
Taiwan clinched four gold medals, as well as one silver and one bronze, at the championships in the Netherlands last year — the nation’s best record at the tournament.
Cho Yao-peng, who is secretary-general of the national tug-of-war association, said that the teams hope to break that record at the Swiss event.
Organized by the Tug of War International Federation, the tournament is the sport’s main global competition and has been held in different countries since 2014.
This year, the competition, which ends today, is being held in Sursee, in the Swiss canton of Lucerne.
“Tug of war is a popular sport in Taiwan and is intensively practiced in many clubs and sports universities,” said Lin Zong-mo, a translator for the Taiwanese teams.
“Daily training in the weight room, a lot of detailed work in tactics and the consolidation of the iron will to win, these are the most important guarantees of success in our teams,” he told the tournament’s Web site.
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