Taiwan wins women's 540kg, men's 640kg world indoor tug of war titles

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Taiwan successfully defended its women's 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men's 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei on Sunday.

In the women's event, Taiwan's eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea.

In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years.

Team captain Lee Yi-chin (李怡謹) told CNA the team had begun training for the indoor championships after completing a season of outdoor tug of war competitions last September.

A junior at NTNU, Lee said she trained daily from the time her classes finished until 9 p.m., with only one day off per week and an even more rigorous schedule in the two months before competing.

"I think the cohesion we showed in winning together was very moving," Lee said of the final, calling tug of war "a combination of strength and beauty."

Meanwhile, in the men's 640 kg event, Taiwan's team emerged undefeated from the preliminaries, and then defeated European powerhouses the Netherlands and Italy in the semifinals and finals, respectively, to win their first-ever gold in the weight class.

Taiwan also took home gold medals in the mixed 580 kg, U23 men's 600 kg and U23 women's 500 kg categories Sunday, completing the two-day championships with a total of 9 golds and one fourth-place finish.