Last week, Taiwan won its first medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. We now take a look at Tien Shiau-wen, who took home a bronze in table tennis.
21-year-old Tien Hsiau-wen won Taiwan’s first medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics last Saturday. She took bronze in the Table Tennis Women’s Singles Class 10 event. Tien’s Paralympic medal is Taiwan’s first since the 2004 Athens Paralympics.
Tien’s right hand suffered nerve damage at birth, limiting the scope of its capabilities — a congenital condition that she was bullied for while growing up. However, Tien began playing table tennis at the age of nine, which helped her gain confidence. In fact, Tien got so good that she’s now ranked fifth in the world for her category.
At the Paralympics, Tien won all three of her group matches. On her way to the quarter finals, she defeated the third- and seventh-ranked players in the world. Still, as outstanding as her performance was, Tien remains humble and says that her bronze medal was an "unexpected outcome."