Speedskater clinches Taiwan's first gold in skating championship

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) Taiwanese speed skater Kuo Li-yang (郭立陽) on Saturday won a gold medal in the men's 200-meter dual time track final at the Speed Skating World Championships 2025 held in China's Beidaihe.

With a time of 17.599 seconds, the 22-year-old skater's win marked Taiwan's first-ever gold medal in the tournament.

"It feels great, because the 200-meter race is highly determined by on-the-spot performance, with any tiny error making all the difference," he told CNA.

Kuo started skating in preschool and began completing at the national level in elementary school.

Having finally achieved "world champion" status, he thanked his family for their support and the coach who introduced him to the sport for helping him train.

Liu Yu-shen (劉昱伸), a coach accompanying the Chinese Taipei Team, said he had anticipated that Kuo would make it onto the podium.

He said Kuo gave his "120 percent effort", handling the curves well and extending his front skate at the finish line, showing his determination to win a gold medal.

The silver and bronze medals in the event went to Jhoan Guzman of Spain and Vincenzo Maiorca from Italy, respectively.

In August, Kuo won a silver in the same event at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu.