NANJING, China (August 18, 2014) - Chinese Taipei swept two gold medals at stake on the second day of the taekwondo competition at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China on Aug. 18, 2014.
In the women's -49kg weight category, Chinese Taipei's Huai-Hsuan Huang defeated Belgium's Indra Craen 12-5 in the final match to earn her country the gold medal.
Huang, the silver medalist at the WTF Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games last March, made it to the final match by beating her semifinal-match opponent, Mexico's Mitzi Yemaima Carrillo Osorio, 6-1.
"I am very happy to be the champion and I was very confident of winning the gold medal," said Huang shortly after the victory ceremony. "I was very fat before, but I ate less food and trained harder to keep in shape."
Mexico's Carrillo Osorio and host China's Tian Rui Zhan had to settle for the bronze medal in the same female weight division.
The president of the Belgium National Olympic Committee presented medals to the winners of the female weight category, together with Wu Jingyu, a double Olympic taekwondo medalist and the taekwondo athlete role model of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.
In the men's -55kg weight division, Chinese Taipei's Yu-jen Huang beat Korea's Dong-hun Joo 7-2 in the final match for the gold medal.
Huang, the gold medalist at the WTF Taekwondo Qualification Tournament for the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games last March, advanced to the final match as he defeated Spain's Jesus Tortosa Cabrera 7-1 in a semifinal match.
The bronze went to Belgium's Mohamed Ketbi and Spain's Tortosa Cabrera in the same weight category.
Samih Moudallal, the IOC member of Syria, presented the medals to the winners of the male weight category together with WTF President Chungwon Choue.
The five-day taekwondo competitions of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games take place at the Hall D of the Nanjing International Expo Center, drawing a total of 100 young athletes from 59 countries. Twenty international referees, 10 males and 10 females, officiate at the taekwondo competitions. The Nanjing taekwondo competitions feature five male and five female weight divisions, and matches of two weight categories are conducted every day.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), visited the venue of the taekwondo competition for about one and a half hours from 7:45 p.m. to watch semifinal and final matches, along with the awarding ceremonies. The IOC president also watched a taekwondo demonstration by the Chinese national demonstration team just next to the venue. Honorary IOC President Jacques Rogge also visited the taekwondo venue almost the same time.
