Taiwan finishes World Games with second-best ever medal haul

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) Taiwanese athletes capped off the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China, on Sunday with the team's second-best ever medal haul at the competition, earning five golds, six silvers and four bronzes.

That result was second only to Taiwan's record at the 2009 edition, when the nation hosted the quadrennial multi-sport event in Kaohsiung and won nine golds, eight silvers and nine bronzes.

Taiwan also captured five gold medals at the 2013 Games in Cali, Colombia, along with five silvers and eight bronzes.

The latest result "once again proves that sports can boost and inspire [us]," Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠), director-general of the Sports Administration, said Sunday.

According to Cheng, highlights of Taiwan's journey at the 2025 Games included the women's tug-of-war team securing a sixth straight title, the mixed beach korfball team upsetting the Netherlands, and powerlifter Yang Sen (楊森) setting a world record with a 453.5-kilogram equipped squat.

In addition, skater Liu Chiao-hsi (劉巧兮) was crowned champion in the women's inline freestyle slalom, while powerlifter Chiang Kai-chieh (江凱傑) pulled off a dramatic comeback victory over two Ukrainian rivals in the men's equipped middleweight division, Cheng noted.

The World Games, inaugurated in 1981, usually take place one year after each edition of the Olympic Games and feature sports not included in the Olympics.