Challenges make every success memorable.
Taiwan News
Date: 2018/03/09
By: Mabel Neo, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Liao Yan-jun (廖晏均), representing Taipei Municipal Lishan
Image courtesy of Liao Yan-jun
Senior High School, has met the qualifying criteria for the 2018 Asian Games. She clocked in her new personal best of 11.67 seconds in the Women’s 100 m event in the Taipei Spring Athletic Open (台北市春季全國田徑公開賽) held on March 2.
Twenty-year-old Liao’s route to the Asian Games wasn’t an easy feat. Athletic coaches who know her personally know this best. Can you imagine putting your heart and soul into the preparation of something for so long, and your dreams get shattered? She is always facing obstacles on a consistent basis, and everyone’s heart goes out to her. To put it plainly, she has always been just a foot away from participating in international events despite being the gold medalist for numerous competitions.
In 2016, Liao’s 100m and 200m records could have bagged the gold medals for these two events in the Asian Under-20 Athletic Championships. But the qualifying criteria were marked higher in that year. Therefore, she was not in the National Athletic Team Squad.
What came as a bigger blow for Liao was the Summer Universiade held in Taipei last year. She was not chosen into the 4*100 relay team squad as she had yet to obtain her University Enrollment Status, thus making her ineligible for the event. She broke down after receiving the bad news. But she bounced back soon enough and focused on preparing for the National Games in Yilan County in October 2017. [FULL STORY]
