Taiwan's 1st women's bobsleigh team eyes berth at 2026 Winter Games

Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's first-ever women's bobsleigh team, known as "Ice Baby," is training intensively in hopes of qualifying for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games from Feb. 6-22, less than two years after the team was formed.

The team comprises pilot Lin Sin-rong (林欣蓉), brakemen Liang Yu-chieh (梁宥婕) and Lin Sung-en (林頌恩), along with physiotherapist Chelsea Yeh (葉耘辰) and manager Kang Ting-ning (康庭寧).

Lin Sin-rong is widely seen as having virtually secured qualification in both the women's monobob and two-woman bobsleigh events after placing in the top six at competitions across Europe and North America.

Her results include two silver medals and one bronze in the monobob, as well as one bronze and two fourth-place finishes in the two-woman event at the North American Cup, which concluded on Jan. 11.

At a press conference Monday, team members described the challenges of pursuing Olympic qualification with limited winter sports resources, including renting sleds from overseas and repairing equipment that was often in poor condition.

"Later, we prepared our own equipment and tools, and the sleds were in much better condition after we used them," Lin said.

Liang said the team also frequently had to adjust their combined weight before races, as the two-woman bobsleigh has a maximum weight limit of 330.5 kilograms and the weight of rented sleds was often unknown beforehand.

Lin Sung-en, the youngest team member at 19, said she began training in bobsleigh just three months after transitioning from athletics.

Both Liang and Lin Sin-rong also started their athletic careers in track and field. Lin, 27, was previously a sprinter before switching to luge in 2016. She represented Taiwan at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, placing 31st in the women's singles event, before moving to bobsleigh in 2024.

Liang was formerly a hammer thrower and still holds Taiwan's under-20 women's hammer throw record.