Taiwanese swimmer Li Yi-ling competes in the women's 200-meter freestyle at the World Deaf Youth Games in Sao Paulo on Friday. Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Deaf Sports Federation
Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) Taiwanese athletes at the World Deaf Youth Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil bagged two golds, a silver and two bronzes on the final day of the multisport competition on Friday, bringing the country's total medal haul to 14.
The first gold was captured in the women's 200-meter freestyle by Li Yi-ling (李翊菱), who broke Taiwan's national record for deaf athletes with a time of 2:21.49.
Li had already won silver in the women's 200m individual medley and bronze in the women's 50m butterfly.
The Taiwanese team's swimming coach Chen Yi-chung (陳怡仲) told CNA that the 200m freestyle was Li's best shot at making it to the top of her sport, and they had anticipated her beating the national record.
Chen and Li also discussed new pacing for the 200m freestyle final, the coach said.
This saw Li actively pull away from other swimmers in the first half of the race, before using her superior stamina to maintain the gap and sprinting to gold over the last 15 meters, Chen said.
Chen said Li's times were all up to par, but the rankings were below expectations.
However, as she had to finish a demanding schedule of racing seven events in three days while facing top international swimmers, her performances should be applauded, Chen said.
Chen added that the biggest challenge for Li was overcoming the 11-hour time difference within two to three days.
Chen commented that "the smallest chili pepper is the spiciest," referring to Li's petite stature. He observed that she was passionate about swimming, put herself fully into training, and was ready to accept advice and adjustments.
With the confidence boost of winning three medals at the youth games, Chen said he expected Li to perform better at the Deaflympics next year.
The second gold medal on Friday was won in the men's long jump by Wei Yu-tze (危宇澤) with a distance of 6.35 meters.
Runner Chen Yun-hsuan (陳昀暄) also took a silver in the women's 400m, while Yang Tien-pi (楊天筆) won a bronze in the men's 400m.
Rounding out Friday's medal haul was Taiwan's men's 3x3 basketball team, which won bronze.
A total of 16 countries are participating in the inaugural World Deaf Youth Games for 14-18 year-olds.
The 16 Taiwanese athletes competing in athletics, badminton, 3x3 basketball and swimming at the games collected four golds, five silvers and five bronzes during the three-day event.
more OCAC News, welcome to
OCACNEWS.NET.
