Taiwan wins senior women's 500kg tug of war title for 5th straight year

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Taiwan successfully defended its senior women's 500-kilogram title for the fifth consecutive year, winning two golds and a bronze at the 2026 Tug of War Outdoor World Championships in South Africa on Friday (local time).

The championships are being held in Mossel Bay, South Africa from Wednesday to Saturday.

On Friday, the first day of the national team events, Taiwan won gold in the senior women's 500-kilogram and junior women's 480-kilogram events, with the men's 600-kilogram team taking bronze.

In the senior women's 500-kilogram event, Taiwan faced Germany in the final match.

The first round of the match was deadlocked for four minutes. With Taiwan trailing by just 50 centimeters and on the verge of losing the round, Germany committed its third offense, allowing Taiwan to take the first round.

Encouraged by the first-round victory, Taiwan swept the second round, securing its fifth consecutive title.

Team leader Hung Ning-hsuan (洪甯暄) told CNA afterwards that Germany appeared stronger than before, making the final match difficult.

The ground was firm at the beginning, making it easier to attack, Hung said. However, the soil became loose in the middle of the match, almost costing Taiwan the first round, she said.

She added every team member felt tremendous pressure and kept encouraging each other before the match. After securing the gold, they felt relieved and were happy to continue the legacy of their predecessors.

Hung thanked her teammates for trusting each other throughout the competition.

Taiwan also successfully defended its title in the 480-kilogram junior women's event for the second consecutive year.

Deputy team leader of the junior women's team Wu Pei-hsuan (吳姵璇) told CNA after the match that the team leader had caught a cold before the competition, but insisted on participating, and leading the team to gold.

Taiwan had already won three golds and three bronzes in the open club events on Wednesday and Thursday before the national-team events began on Friday.

Six teams from Taiwan will compete on Saturday, the second day of the national-team events.

(By Li I-hsuan and Lee Chieh-yu) enditem/cs