At last year's Asian Games in Peking, sprinter Wang Hui-chen won two silvers; women weight lifters Ni Chia-pin and Chen Shu-chih each garnered silvers; and a squad of women archers, composed of Chin Chiu-yueh, Lai Fang-mei and Lin Pi-yu (the golden triangle), also won a silver.

In March of this year, at the world indoor arching championships in Finland, Chin Chiu-yueh finished second among women; at the taekwondo world championships in Yugoslavia in May, R.O.C. women won seven golds and the highest group score; and at a taekwondo international invitational held in Turkey in August, our women did even better, taking five golds and the group title. Such women as Chen Yi-an, Tung Ya-ling, Wu Shan-chen and Tang Hui-ting are all frequent world champions in taekwondo.

Furthermore, in September at the Asian bicycling championships in Peking, Yang Hsiu-chen rode for a bicycling silver, and in October at the Asian archery championships in Manila, Liu Pi-yu added yet another excellent performance, taking two silvers and two bronzes. Wang Hui-chen has received the most attention of all. At the college world championships held in Sheffield, England, in July, she took the gold in the 200 meters. Not only did she write a new page in the history of R.O.C. athletics, but she also became the first Oriental to win that event in the 16 times that the meet has been held.

With the glittering of gold and sliver, the world of women's athletics is brightening up . . . .

A Time for Heroines: Tsai Te-long, president of the Taipei Junior College of Physical Education, holds that the recent athletic supremacy of women over men in Taiwan--while partially the result of great effort by individual athletes--has also been "greatly helped" by international athletic conditions.

He points out that the first factor contributing to this supremacy is "time." Since the all-out international development of women's athletics did not really take off until the last ten years or so, all countries have limited experience in this area, and hence the relative differences are smaller and performing well is easier than in men's athletics. For example, the women's weight lifting world cup has only been held five times whereas the R.O.C. has a nine-year history of developing women's weight lifting.

Social factors "also give women a greater chance for success," says Tsai Te-long. Because of the practice of purdah, women of Islamic countries are excluded from competition, he explains, and with the exception of Korea, Japan, mainland China and Taiwan, most Asian countries still hold rather conservative attitudes about women's athletics. Thus, the potential number of competitors is greatly reduced.

The Olympic Burden Is on the Women: Although there are numerous international athletic competitions, everyone's ultimate aim is the Olympics, which serves not only as an arena for athletics but also as a place where nations display power and establish reputations. In consideration of its chances for medals, the R.O.C. has focused its development and training efforts in certain areas to prepare for the Olympics.

Chen Chin-shu, the secretary general of the R.O.C. Sports Federation, says that two particular kinds of events have been selected for development out of consideration for the limitations of the oriental physique. Instead of events that require height, preference has been given (1) to events that have different weight classes--such as weight lifting, taekwondo and judo--and (2) to sports without weight classes that don't require height, such as baseball, golf, bowling, gymnastics and diving.

After assessing its own strengths and those of the competition, the R.O.C. decided on six events as the focus of its training efforts: archery, weight lifting, taekwondo, bowling, baseball, and judo. "The first three are almost exclusively the domain of women competitors," says Chen Chin-shu.

Generally speaking, physical build has a great impact on performance in track and field, which makes the event unfavorable for development by the R.O.C. Only when there is exceptional individual talent and excellent training will success be possible. Such women as Chi Cheng and Wang Hui-chen are special cases--exceptions to the rule.

To Each Her Own Hardship: Each event has its own training difficulties that are hard for outsiders to imagine. For example, weight lifters, who strictly control their weight in order to compete in particular weight classes, often maintain long-term Draconian diets, completely forsaking their favorite foods.

In order to maintain an even temperament and concentration and to prevent winking that can lead to faulty aim, archers have about an hour of concentration training a day in which they stare at the clock, establishing a blinking frequency of exactly once every ten seconds. But this counts as a relatively minor hardship.

Arching competitions are particularly long. Every competition lasts a full day. As a result, athletes require great stamina, willpower and tenacity. "Other events have three training periods a day--we have four," says Chin Chiu-yueh. Most of her fellow athletes at the Tsoying Training Center have training sessions in the early morning, the morning and the afternoon. Archers are required to train at night as well.

Because taekwondo is a martial art, injuries are particularly numerous. At any moment, one could sprain a hip or injure a foot. Liu Ching-wen,a taekwondo coach at the Tsoying Training Center, reveals that at least half of the athletes making a trip to the center's infirmary on a given day are taekwondo competitors.

For such events as the 100-meter dash, one may train a year to take just a hundredth of a second off one's time, and then again, even such a minuscule breakthrough may not be possible. Sprinter Wang Hui-chen points out that there are 108 different skills to learn from the starting blocks to the finish line. After four hard years of training, she still hasn't learned a third of these "tricks."

These difficulties are problems that all athletes share. Most high achieving athletes have the characteristic of "sacrificing a bit more" than their peers.

Just One Lifestyle: Most women about 20 years of age--just in the blossom of youth--are either working or still studying and have friends, pretty clothing and all kinds of leisure activities in addition to their duties. For athletes of the same age, training occupies the bulk of their time. Those working hard to be at the very top of their sport can simply forget about having "a personal life."

Twenty-one-year-old Wang Hui-chen has never gone to a dance and has no idea what the inside of a MTV or KTV looks like. "Its not that I am not interested; its just that I don't have the time," she says profoundly. As far as she is concerned, besides winning races, she is happiest when she can "joyfully get a good night's sleep."

Winner of a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics for the demonstration sport of taekwondo and of this year's world championships in the sport, ChenYian, who turned 18 this year, started training when she was eight. Since then her after-school hours have been used for training, and she has up to now "almost never watched night-time television programs."

Trainer Liu Ching-wen holds that Chen Yi-an's strength lies in her self-control: she strictly controls her personal life and doesn't goof off. "Even when she's not training, it's rare you won't be able to find her," he says.

In order to stay in the fourth (52-56 kilogram) weight class, weight lifter Ni Chia-pin, who took silvers at both last year's Asian Games and the world championships, avoids cream and chocolate, which she loves, and goes to the extreme of not even eating stir-fried foods. In accordance with a professional nutritionist's advice, she only eats salads--salads to which she adds a bit of ketchup. Currently, she has the thinnest layer of fat beneath the skin of any athlete at the Northern Training Center.

Eyes on the Prize: For the sake of high scores, these women have a lot of "secrets" for training and competition.

For example, in order to maintain emotional stability and concentration, Liu Pi-yu does her best to control all of her emotions. She doesn't let herself get too excited or "angry about trivial matters."

Twenty-four-year-old Chin Chiu-yueh adopts a lifestyle that operates 100 percent according to rules. The times she wakes up, eats, and goes to bed all are in accord with a self-imposed timetable. "Whether or not one is able to exercise full concentration during training is something that each athlete knows for herself," says Chin Chiu-yueh. When pulling the bow and turning the head, at one glance she can see the circles of the target clearly--even the small words above the target can be seen vividly when her attention is undivided. On the other hand, with poor concentration she "can see only a bunch of vague circles."

Before a competition is finished, Sprinter Wang Hui-chen looks past people she knows as if they weren't there. People who don't know better often mistake this for a star's haughtiness.

"Actually, I am only aiming for complete intensity in every link of the chain," Wang Hui-chen explains. She has observed that the best foreign track stars refrain from looking about or chatting from the moment they enter the stadium until the competition has finished "because the action of saying 'hello' may result in the missing of one warm up movement, which in turn may lead to defeat."

In addition, Tung Ya-ling, who is described by her coach Liu Ching-wen as a "wise" taekwondo competitor, is best at counter attack. But she says it isn't that she's smart but rather that she spends the most time observing.

Tung Ya-ling, who is a featherweight (51-55 kilograms), is only 163 centimeters tall and is often much shorter than her competitors. In order to compensate for this physical drawback, she constantly uses her time off to study tapes of herself in competition so as to think of ways to improve her skills.

With a Man's Love of the Fight: Even if one has great technique and has mastered all the tricks, rigorous training is the key that cannot be overlooked.

Weight lifter Ni Chia-pin controls her weight, on the one hand, and makes strict demands on herself in practicing moves, on the other. Coach Tsai Wen-yi points out that every time he demonstrates a move, Ni Chia-pi repeats it "until a coach yells at her to stop."

Wu Shan-chen, who is a fin weight (under 43 kilograms) in taekwondo, has trained to attack with an aggressive burst at the outset in order to shake her opponent's confidence.

"My method is to challenge as many men as possible on a regular basis." Wu Shan-chen holds that men move faster and are more vicious than women. As a result of challenging lots of "strong opponents," her ch'i is naturally stronger than other women's.

Weight lifter Chen Shu-chih, who has recently been making rapid progress, is also described as possessing great fighting spirit by her coach Tsai Wen-yi. "She loves to find men to challenge. It has become an addiction with her--she even challenges me."

Struggles and Expectations: While R.O.C. athletes are striving hard, foreign athletes are likewise going all out. Olympic glory truly requires one to beat the odds.

Among the currently targeted Olympic events, the nation's strength is greatest and spread most evenly in taekwondo. Liu Ching-wen points out that taekwondo was developed early and many women athletes are training in the event. It is thus easier to find quality among quantity. "We are currently among the best in the world," he says. Outside of South Korea, there are few who are a match for R.O.C. women. Unfortunately, the event is only a demonstration sport and not a formal Olympic event.

Weight lifting coach Tsai Wen-yi states that R.O.C. weight lifters have the potential to be second in Asia with their sights on number one. Only mainland China has a clearly stronger squad.

In archery, there is potential for silvers in both the group and individual events. But through many years of international competition, it has largely been the golden triangle of Chin Chiu-yueh, Lai Fang-mei and Liu Pi-yu who have held the R.O.C.'s show together. Few, however, seem ready to carry on in their place. Fortunately, since all three of these archers are 24 years of age or younger (generally speaking, an archer's career lasts at least until she is 35), they still have many days left in the spotlight. In addition to South Korea, which has been able to dominate the event for many years, European countries such as the Soviet Union and Sweden are constantly improving in this event and pose no small threat.

"Enduring great hardship allows one to transcend common achievement . . . ." R.O.C. women athletes are fulfilling at least the first half of this ancient Chinese proverb. Whether or not they can make a name for themselves as winners in international competition will begin to be answered at next year's Olympics.

[Picture Caption]

Chen Yi-an's excellent performance won a gold medal in taekwondo at the exhibition competition at the 1988 Olympics.

Wang Hui-chen ran for a gold in the 200 meters at this year's World Games, writing a new page in the history of track and field. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Liu Pi-yu in October at the Asian Arching Championships took two silversand two bronzes, turning in the best R.O.C. performance.

"Take a good look: tomorrow's medal winners." R.O.C.'s women athletics is growing stronger by the day. The women are increasingly more successful than the men in international competitions. (Sinorama file photo)

Weight lifting coach Tsai Wen-yi is correcting the pose of weight lifterChen Shu-chih.

Garnering a silver in weight lifting at last year's Asian games, Ni Chiapin is a woman who uses every bit of her strength. Here she is rubbing on powder.

The R.O.C. archery team isn't weak. From the first to the third on the left are the three separate sides of the fearsome golden triangle: Chin Chiu-yueh, Liu Pi-yu and Lai Fang-mei.(Sinorama file photo)

Liu Pi-yu in October at the Asian Arching Championships took two silversand two bronzes, turning in the best R.O.C. performance.

Wang Hui-chen ran for a gold in the 200 meters at this year's World Games, writing a new page in the history of track and field. （photo by Vincent Chang）

"Take a good look: tomorrow's medal winners." R.O.C.'s women athletics is growing stronger by the day. The women are increasingly more successful than the men in international competitions. （Sinorama file photo）

Garnering a silver in weight lifting at last year's Asian games, Ni Chiapin is a woman who uses every bit of her strength. Here she is rubbing on powder.

Weight lifting coach Tsai Wen-yi is correcting the pose of weight lifterChen Shu-chih.

The R.O.C. archery team isn't weak. From the first to the third on the left are the three separate sides of the fearsome golden triangle: Chin Chiu-yueh, Liu Pi-yu and Lai Fang-mei.（Sinorama file photo）