Taiwan had a banner year in sports. Last Friday, Taiwan honored its athletes during the annual Sports Elite Awards.
To say Taiwan’s athletes performed excellently this year is an understatement. Taiwan had its best Olympic performance ever during this year’s games in Tokyo. Last Friday, on Christmas Eve, Taiwan honored its athletes for their outstanding performances at the 2021 Sports Elite Awards.
Badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin won the Best Sports Team award for taking home the gold medal in the badminton men’s doubles at this year’s Olympics. Meanwhile, their coach, Chen Hung-ling, won the award for Best Coach. Unfortunately, Lee and Wang couldn’t attend the ceremony because they were still competing abroad.
Olympic judoka silver medalist Yang Yung-wei took home the award for Best Male Athlete, after finishing the year ranked No. 1 in the world in the men’s 60kg category.
Weightlifter Kuo Hsing-chun took home her fourth Best Female Athlete award. That’s because she crushed 2021, ranking number one at the Olympics and the International Weightlifting Federation’s World Championships. Sadly, Kuo also could not attend the award ceremony, as she was in quarantine after returning from the World Championships in Uzbekistan.
Taiwanese golfer C.T. Pan was awarded the Best Sportsmanship award after clawing his way back from unlikely circumstances to win Taiwan’s first bronze medal in golf in a seven-way sudden-death play.
Hearing-impaired sprinter Hsu Le won the Best New Athlete award. Although not as well known, her career seems just as promising. In 2020, she placed first at a national competition after completing the 100-meter hurdles in 13.19 seconds.
2021 proved to be an impressive year for Taiwan in the world of sports. However, Taiwan’s athletes aren’t resting on their laurels just yet. They’re looking forward to even bigger and better performances in 2022.