Taiwanese judoka Lien Chen-ling is planning to retire soon and work as a coach for the judo club of Japanese conglomerate Komatsu, she said on Sunday at a launch of her autobiography.
The 36-year-old Lien, who competed in three Olympic Games and won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China last year, said at the event that she hoped to act as a bridge between Taiwan and Japan in her new job and help more Taiwanese judokas visit Japan.
She acknowledged that age was a major factor in her decision to retire from the sport, but said she felt judokas never really retire and she wanted to give back to judo in another way by working as a coach.
Photo: CNA
Although committed to retirement, Lien still left open the possibility of appearing at the National Games later this month, saying only that “as long as my physical condition allows it and the club agrees, then I’ll have the opportunity to compete.”
The Taiwanese judoka, who is expected to begin her new job next month, said she did not have much understanding of coaching and considered herself a “white belt” in the field, but she hoped to one day gain “black belt” coaching status.
That would require a learning curve, Lien said, adding that she would observe how Japan maintains long-term and stable results in the judo arena as she learns how to be a coach.
“I know that I will return to Taiwan in the future. Before that, I hope to build a bridge between Taiwan and Japan,” she said.
Deemed the “Queen of Judo,” Lien has set many firsts in the sport for Taiwanese athletes.
She not only became the first Taiwanese judoka to be recruited to the Komatsu Women’s Judo Team in 2014, but also won Taiwan’s first international judo gold medal at the 2015 Grand Prix Budapest.
Lien also had the best result of any Taiwanese judo competitor at the 2016 Olympics, when she placed fifth in her weight class.
Despite achieving several milestones, Lien has gone through many twists and turns in her career. She was eliminated in the round of 16 in the under-57kg event at the Tokyo Olympics, but won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in China last year.
At the Paris Olympics, Lien fell short of her own expectations, losing in the opening round of her under-57kg division in what would likely be her last appearance in any international competition.
“If I had done my best at the Tokyo Olympics and still lost, I would have thought it was time to retire,” Lien said in an interview before the Olympics.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS