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Updated Monday, July 20, 2009 11:43 am TWN, The China Post news staff and CNA Taiwan gets more goldGreat Britain beat Japan, the 2005 World Games silver medalist, 3-0 to win the bronze. Taiwan's gold medal achievement, continues the women pullers' record of never having lost a major international competition, following up titles at the 2005 World Games and the 2006 and 2008 World Championships. Team members attributed their success to long, painstaking and intensive training sessions, the thick calluses on each team member's palms testifying to their dedication and hard preparation. “It was really an arduous regimen,” said 37-year-old captain Cheng Shu-fang in describing the team's last month of training before the World Games, when it did not take a single break. The next challenge for the Taiwanese women will be the 2010 World Championship to be held in Italy. Unlike men's tug of war, the women's version puts less emphasis on brawn with a maximum weight of 520 kilograms per team, and requires a more refined technique because it is contested indoors. When the tug of war is held outdoors, participants dig in their heels and pull back using the full weight of their bodies, but that technique does not work in the indoor event because the pullers can easily slip. Instead, the pullers try to move back step-by-step to avoid losing their footing. With five gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals Taiwan kept its second place in terms of gold medals, trailing only Russia. The total number of 11 medals so far also placed Taiwan at the second spot after Russia. |
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