Taiwan posts best ever away result in World University Games

台灣隊創世界大學生運動會客場最好成績

Second best medal tally for Taiwan team after Taipei 2017


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s athletes have posted the best ever result away from home soil at the World University Games, taking home 10 gold medals and 45 medals in total.

The 2023 World University Games were held in Chengdu in the Chinese province of Sichuan, and ended on Tuesday (Aug. 8). The Taiwanese team took home gold medals in tennis, badminton, martial arts, track and field, and gymnastics.

On Saturday Taiwanese tennis players won the women’s and men’s doubles final, and the mixed badminton team beat China to take home gold in the finals of that sport on Aug. 2. The Taiwan delegation’s first gold medal was won by Taiwanese wushu athlete Sun Chia-hung (孫家閎) on July 30.

All in all, the Taiwan athletes took home 10 golds, 17 silvers, and 18 bronzes. The total placed the team 8th in the country rankings (which is weighted towards gold medals) and 5th place for total number of medals.

The result is the best performance by a Taiwanese team away from home soil, making it the second best ever, after the 2017 World University Games in Taipei.

Some athletes missed out on gold by a slim margin only - notably the “Taiwan Butterfly King” Wang Kuan-hong (王冠閎), who took home silver after he was 0.03 seconds slower than his Japanese counterpart in the 200m butterfly final. The Taiwanese Taekwondo athletes also took home six silvers and four bronzes, but missed out on the gold.

China topped the medal table with 101 golds and a total of 174 medals, followed by Japan with 21 golds and 92 medals, then Korea with 17 and 58 respectively.

The 31st edition World University Games, formerly known as the Universiade, was initially scheduled for 2021 but was postponed twice due to COVID. The biennial even attracts more than 9,500 athletes with 269 medals up for the taking.