No challenge that cannot be overcome
Weightlifting is a sport in which both the level of difficulty and the risk of injury increase with weight. Five years ago Coach Lin began using the barbell trajectory analysis and tracking system developed by Ho Wei-hua, former deputy CEO of the National Sports Training Center. He applied these in daily training to correct the motions of athletes and increase precision in the sport of weightlifting.
In 2019, with support from the Gold Plan of the Ministry of Education (MOE), conditioning coach Cheng Yu-erh and physical therapist Chou Yi-lun joined Kuo’s coaching staff, forming a “Gold Team” with Lin Geng Neng. Spending time with Kuo from morning to night, they gained a deep respect for her indomitable spirit, her resilience in the face of disappointment, and her determination to make breakthroughs in training. They even started to affectionately call her “Crazy Woman.”
Kuo admits it is in her nature to strive to outshine others. When training she has to reach a specific goal, and if she can’t do it she won’t rest. After being injured again last year, she began to learn to accept suggestions from her Gold Team and adjust her training regimen. The great results she achieved that year despite her injury were all thanks to the efforts of the coaching team, she says.
After her disappointment in Rio, Kuo adjusted her mindset away from striving for medals and instead focused her attention on target weights that she set herself for the clean and jerk and for the snatch. Over the course of more than ten competitions from the 2017 Asian Weightlifting Championships to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she was invincible.
Kuo’s mother was only 18 when she gave birth to Hsing-chun. She was raised by her maternal grandmother while her mother was busy working various casual jobs. She has only set eyes on her father once thus far in her life. Kuo feels that sports has enabled her to divert her attention away from unhappiness and insulate herself from the effects of the environment she grew up in.
The good-natured Kuo still remembers something that her first weightlifting coach told her: “If you are fine, then everyone else will be fine.” Besides frequently donating her prize money to charity, she also hopes her story can empower others.
As for the future, Kuo Hsing-chun will continue to use her weightlifting abilities to bring positive energy to Taiwan.