Taiwan has walked away with five gold medals—one short of half the total medal haul—at the 2018 Tug of War International Federation Outdoor Club Championships Sept. 19-20 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Students and alumni from Taipei Jingmei Girls High School and National Taiwan Normal University triumphed in the under-23 500-kilogram event, beating South Africa and again in the senior 540-kg weight class, defeating Basque Country.
The other women’s team to shine was from National Nantou Senior High School in central Taiwan, who claimed Taiwan’s first gold medal in the junior 480-kg contest after thrashing South Africa.
The remaining two golds were claimed by mixed teams also after crushing the host country.
Taoyuan Municipal Shou Shan Senior High School in northern Taiwan and Nantou Senior High won the junior 520-kg contest. Competitors from Jingmei Girls High and Taoyuan City-headquartered National Taiwan Sport University grabbed gold in the under-23 560-kg contest.
The Outdoor Club Championships is a curtain raiser to the event’s highlight, the biennial TWIF World Outdoor Tug of War Championships running Sept. 21-22 in Cape Town.
Taiwan is looking to defend its women’s 500-kg title, which it has won four consecutive times since 2010, according to the national tug of war association based in Taipei. It is also hoping to keep the women’s 540-kg title nabbed in 2016.
Local athletes took home six golds, one silver and one bronze at the 2016 outdoor club and world championships, according to the association.
More than 1,100 competitors from 20 countries and territories including Australia, Belgium, Nigeria, the U.K. and U.S. are taking part in the event this year, according to TWIF. (CPY-E)
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