Since Wang Hui-chen nabbed the gold in the 200 meters at the World Games, people have been asking her what has supported her to push on?

"I run for my coach!" Wang Hui-chen says frankly. Not only has Tsai Jung-pin altered the course of her life, but he has also changed her outlook on life.

Lost on the Track: Tsai Jung-pin first noticed Wang Hui-chen when she was loafing about the track of the China Junior College of Industrial and Commercial Management.

At that time, she was a sophomore studying International Trade and was on the college track team. Because she could never keep up with the pace of the training, she was always being scolded. Dispirited, she couldn't get excited about her training program.

"It was training time for the track team," recalls Tsai Jung-pin. "I saw that all of the athletes had 'work' to do--either running or warming up. She was the only one loafing about doing nothing. It made me wonder, and I went over to ask her a few questions." Tsai Jung-pin was then moonlighting as a coach at the China Junior College of Industrial and Commercial Management, but he had never coached Wang Hui-chen.

From their talk, Tsai Jung-pin discovered that she had a good head on her shoulders. This clear thinking added to her slender body and agile movements gave her the potential of a smart athlete. She was a very polishable piece of rough jade, and Tsai was interested in putting her under his wing.

But Wang Hui-chen was in the dumps, thinking about leaving track forever.

A Glum Member of the Track Team: In elementary school and junior high school, her excellent performance in sprinting contests had got her signed up for the track teams.

"But when I look back on it now. I was muddle-headed about joining theteams. It was always the teachers' idea for me to join. I wasn't reallyinto sports," she says. Hence, in her third and final year of junior high, she decided to study first at a junior college (which in Taiwan are five year vocational-oriented schools that begin in the tenth grade) andget a skill she could use before making any further plans.

But after years on the track, she found that she had grown used to training and couldn't give it up just like that. After hearing that the track and field team at the China Junior College of Industrial and Commercial Management had the easiest training regimen of any college, she decided to take the test for that school.

After she had enrolled, she discovered that what she had imagined was far from reality.

For someone who had received formal track training in junior high school, the school's training program wouldn't have seemed heavy, but Wang Hui-chen's had been taught by a soccer coach, and she hadn't yet been exposed to comprehensive and rigorous training in track and field.

As a result, she was frequently reduced to tears by the demanding training of the college's track and field program. In weight training, she couldn't lift the metal bar; in her running training, she could never complete the required mileage. "What was worse was that my coaches and teammates thought that I was intentionally being lazy; they didn't believe that I really couldn't finish," she says with obvious frustration at having been misunderstood. And her loving parents also hoped that she would focus on her studies and continue no further with running.

Enter Tsai Jung-pin, who not only persuaded Wang herself to train but also made repeated visits to her family over the course of a year before her parents finally consented.

To Get a Student, First Gain Her Confidence: Training an athlete independently requires great expenditures of energy and funds. When Tsai Jung-pin, who has made quite a name for himself in photography and advertising, began spending his own money on this kind of "silly endeavor," many people called him crazy behind his back.

At the beginning, Wang Hui-chen also didn't understand why he did this. But Tsai Jung-pin was not overanxious to teach her; he treated her as a friend and encouraged her to chat with him.

Wang Hui-chen remembers that at that time they would often speak on the phone, or she would go to his office for a chat. "Coach Tsai wouldn't only talk with me about future training targets and my personal problems, but he would also discuss international trends and social phenomena."

After the first year, Wang Hui-chen discovered that Tsai, who was full of dreams about track and field, was extremely patriotic, wanting to raise the ROC flag over the track stadiums of the world. She became infected with the same kinds of emotions: "Frankly speaking, I don't love running all that much. But youth is limited. If I really have potential that could be developed for my country, why not try?" Wang Hui-chen decided to leave the track team and become Tsai's private student.

Tsai hoped that she could train without distractions, for which the support of her family would be a tremendous step forward.

Her father, Wang Hsing-ting, a retired soldier who had been a star on the military's basketball team had a love of country as strong as Tsai's. Hence, Tsai appealed with "a resolution for Olympic glory in eight years." He told Wang's father, "Other people aren't willing to take this road so we'll play fools and go it alone. Wang Hui-chen has been given a gift by God. If we don't polish it now, it will go to waste." Wang Hsing-ting came around.

From this point on, everything in the Wang household began to revolve around the arrangements of Wang Hui-chen and her younger brother (her brother had later started training with Tsai). "Even if we trained until 11:00 at night, my parents would wait for us to come home before eating dinner," she says.

Wang Hui-chen as an Unfinished Masterpiece: A student of painting and of the piano and the saxophone in his youth, Tsai has approached the training of Wang as he would the creating of a work of art. Creation needslong periods of time for reflection and the brewing of thoughts. After the preparing of the canvass, one still needs abundant cultural awarenesscomplemented by excellent artistry before one can give a piece of art life.

Thus, Tsai not only wanted Wang to have a sharp mind and developed limbs but also wanted her to have a broad-minded cultural awareness.

He taught Wang Hui-chen piano. From the melody one can understand the wisdom of life and the changes of the track. Bodies warming up on the turf are like adagio--slow but ordered. Starting from the blocks is like the first beat--after a violent burst of energy, one needs gentle fluidity. The contradictions of the heart and the great difficulty of interval training are like variations--only by charging through the most difficult sections can one get to the gentle and beautiful coda.

Besides music, Tsai Jung-pin will also, in accordance with the needs of the moment, select appropriate films and books for his students to enjoy.

For example, early on, when Wang was in need of confidence and determination to throw herself into track and field, Tsai would have her go seeThe Story of Sun Yat-sen. Now that she is more mature--though at times a bit volatile emotionally--Tsai will have her read religious and philosophical books, such as the Book of Changes and the Bible. Wang points out that reading the Bible was of great assistance in winning the 200 meters at the College World Games in July.

"Though I'm not a believer, on the night before that race I felt compelled to find a place to be alone and pray." She says that after the setback of losing the 100 meters and suffering injury to her legs, she was so upset that she couldn't sleep. "After praying, it was as if I had cast away my worries. I was immediately much more relaxed." That night she slept very well. The next day, full of energy and free from burdens, she won her race in spite of her injury.

Costly Scientific Training Methods: As for the hardware of training, Tsai describes what he uses as "comprehensive scientific management."

Four years ago, for Wang Hui-chen and seven other of his disciples, Tsai bought training equipment which cost more than NT$10 million. Furthermore, he uses cameras to photograph them in training in order to correct their flaws and perfect their strengths.

What's more, he has made arrangements with foreign athletic organizations, whereby he buys annual individual training schedules for his athletes. Based on the information about the athletes and the video tapes of their practices and records he sends, they are given individualized training programs and "menus" to plan their meals. In accordance with actual needs, Tsai gives his athletes fortnightly or monthly "study charts."

Even the "nutritional content and sleeping hours need to be calculated in detail." Tsai had one year at the Taipei Medical College so adjusting training charts isn't too difficult for him.

This kind of planned training requires a lot of money: the better the athlete's performance, the more expensive it becomes. In years past, Wang says that her training costs were only several hundred thousand NT dollars. But this year it has already risen to NT$2 million.

Through the use of "the carrot and the stick," in four years Wang's times have gradually come down: from 13 to 11.29 in the 100 meters and from 27 to 23.18 seconds in the 200.

More Flags to Raise: At last year's Asian Games, Wang took the silver in both the 100 and the 200. At this year's College World Games, Wang raised the R.O.C. national flag to the highest point of track and field. Wang Hui-chen, Tsai Jung-pin and the overseas Chinese there couldn't holdback the tears.

Yet Tsai Jung-pin frankly states that the next two Olympics are the true test for the master and his student. Only by taking an Olympic medal can their efforts count as a success. "Lingering on the winners dias to listen to the applause will only cause one to trip when stepping off," he says profoundly. "While the road ahead is hard, we can't stop."

[Picture Caption]

Tsai Jung-pin works hard in cultivating Wang Hui-chen. After every practice, he massages her muscles and uses the opportunity to get to know her thoughts and feelings.

This gold medal won by Wang Hui-chen in the 200 meters at the World Games held in England, created a new record in the history of track and field. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Tsai Jung-pin says that cultivating athletes is like creating a work of art. In addition to excellent skills, one needs a deep cultural perspective.

Wang Hui-chen says that one's youth has its limits. If one really has running potential, then why not develop it to its fullest for one's country.

Wang Hui-chen knows that the road toward an Olympic medal is a hard one, on which one must always move forward. (photo by Arthur Cheng)

Tsai Jung-pin works hard in cultivating Wang Hui-chen. After every practice, he massages her muscles and uses the opportunity to get to know her thoughts and feelings.

Tsai Jung-pin says that cultivating athletes is like creating a work of art. In addition to excellent skills, one needs a deep cultural perspective.

Wang Hui-chen says that one's youth has its limits. If one really has running potential, then why not develop it to its fullest for one's country.

Wang Hui-chen knows that the road toward an Olympic medal is a hard one, on which one must always move forward. （photo by Arthur Cheng）