Taiwan ends Asian Games with five gold, 17 silver, 33 bronze

台灣以5金、17銀、33銅結束本屆亞運

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games officially concluded Sunday, ending two weeks of competition in which Taiwan won five gold, 17 silver, and 33 bronze medals for a total of 55.

Taiwan finished 15th in the overall medal standings. The five gold medals marked the country's lowest gold-medal tally at an Asian Games since the 1990 Beijing Games, when Taiwan won no gold medals, per ETToday.

The result was also a significant decline from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, where Taiwan won 19 gold, 20 silver, and 28 bronze medals for 67 medals overall, ranking sixth. However, the elimination of roller/inline sports, where Taiwan won seven gold medals, was a major reason for the decline.

Taiwan's five gold medals came in soft tennis, swimming, athletics, boxing, and tennis. Yu Kai-wen (余凱文) and Huang Shih-yuan (黃詩媛) won the mixed doubles soft tennis title. Swimmer Wang Kuan-hung (王冠閎) won the men's 200-meter butterfly in 1 minute, 55.05 seconds, becoming the first Taiwanese male swimmer to win an Asian Games gold medal, per Taiwan Olympic Committee.

Fu Chao-hsuan (傅兆玄) won the men's high jump after clearing 2.25 meters, matching his season best. He became the first Taiwanese man in 60 years to win an Asian Games athletics gold medal, since Wu Ah-min (吳阿民) won the men's decathlon in 1966.

Boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) added Taiwan's fourth gold medal after moving up from the 57-kilogram class to 60 kg. She defeated China's Yang Chengyu 5-0 in the final to win her second consecutive Asian Games boxing gold medal.

Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and Liang En-shuo (梁恩碩) secured the fifth and final gold medal in the women's doubles tennis competition, defeating fellow Taiwanese players Chan Hao-ching (詹皓晴) and Wu Fang-hsien (吳芳嫻) in the final.

Another highlight in the boxing ring was Chen Nien-chin (陳念琴), who reached the women's 65-kg final before losing 3-2 by split decision to India's Parveen Hooda. Chen settled for silver after a closely contested bout.

The younger generation also made history

Fourteen-year-old Lin Yi-fan (林逸凡) won silver in the women's park skateboarding event, giving Taiwan its first Asian Games medal in skateboarding. Twelve-year-old Ku Yong-yan (辜泳諺) then won silver in the men's park event later the same day, breaking Lin's record as Taiwan's youngest Asian Games medalist.

Taiwan did not win a medal in breaking, but Sun Zhen (孫振), competing as B-Boy Quake, drew attention by wearing bubble-tea-themed earrings during the competition. He said the accessory was a way to promote bubble tea and Taiwanese culture internationally.

Traditional medal-producing sports also contributed to Taiwan's overall haul. Weightlifting, taekwondo, badminton, table tennis, and shooting all produced medals, but none won gold at Aichi-Nagoya.

The games concluded with the Olympic Council of Asia flag being handed over to Qatar, which will host the 2030 Asian Games in Doha. The closing ceremony was held Sunday evening at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, where the handover ceremony featured a horse and rider representing the next host city, per ETToday.