Kuo Hsing-chun

In September 2014, inside the weightlifting training room at the National Training Center, a 141-kilogram barbell slipped from Kuo Hsing-chun's hands and came down directly onto her right thigh. The vastus lateralis muscle on the outside of her right leg was torn 70 to 80 percent¹. She lay on the floor and waited for a long time before the ambulance arrived. While in pain she was not thinking about her career — she was thinking about a strange question: if this had happened in a remote tribal community in Taitung, how long would the ambulance take?

Two years later, she used prize money from competition to buy an ambulance, which she donated to the Huimin Hospital in Penghu².

30-Second Overview

Kuo Hsing-chun was born in 1993 in Luodong, Yilan, a descendant of the Maalan (Malan) tribe of the Amis people³. She is Taiwan's most successful weightlifter in history, having broken world records eleven times across her career⁴. At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics she won gold with a snatch of 103kg, a clean & jerk of 133kg, and a total of 236kg in the 59kg category, while simultaneously setting three Olympic records⁵. At the 2024 Paris Olympics she competed through injury to win bronze, becoming the first Taiwanese athlete to stand on the Olympic podium at three consecutive Games⁶. Off the platform, she is known for donating ambulances, contributing prize winnings, and establishing a foundation, with long-term involvement in sports resources for underserved communities.

Born in Luodong, Maalan Blood

Kuo Hsing-chun was not born in Taitung. She was born on November 26, 1993, at Saint Mary's Hospital in Luodong, Yilan County; her birth presentation was breech and the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck — she barely survived. The character "婞" (xìng) in her name is derived from the word for "survivor" (倖存)³. Her family's Amis roots trace to the Maalan tribe in Taitung. Her great-grandmother Lu Jing-zi was a Golden Melody Award winner known for Amis traditional songs⁷. Two generations, the same bloodline from the Maalan tribe — one made the world listen through song, one through the barbell.

She grew up in a single-parent household; her mother worked at a restaurant to support the family. Kuo Hsing-chun attended elementary school in Yilan before transferring to Taitung Sport Middle School for junior high, where she originally trained in track-and-field throwing — shot put and discus. The pivotal person who redirected her was coach Pu Ya-ling, who spotted during training that Kuo Hsing-chun's explosive power was too good to waste on throwing events⁸. National team coach Lin Ching-neng then took over her technical training and brought her from national competitions to the world stage⁹.

The Day the 141-Kilogram Barbell Came Down

At the 2012 London Olympics, 18-year-old Kuo Hsing-chun made her first Olympic appearance, finishing eighth in the 58kg category⁴. The result was not outstanding, but reaching the Olympics at 18 suggested a bright future.

Then in 2014, that barbell came down.

The vastus lateralis of her right thigh was torn 70 to 80 percent. For a weightlifter, the thigh is the foundation that bears all weight — this injury was close to a career-ending verdict. Rehabilitation began from the most basic movements: not lifting barbells, but learning to walk normally again¹.

"I waited so long for an ambulance here at the National Training Center — what about my hometown, or even more remote areas?"²

That thought later became action. In January 2016, Kuo Hsing-chun donated NT$1.5 million to purchase an ambulance for the Huimin Hospital in Penghu². This was not an impulsive act after the injury. She spent more than a year thinking it through, waiting until she had the ability to act.

From Rio to Tokyo: A Record-Breaking Machine

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Kuo Hsing-chun took bronze in the 58kg category with a total of 231kg — the first Olympic medal of her career⁴.

Then she began setting records.

At the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade, competing on home soil: a clean & jerk of 142kg broke the world record; total of 249kg¹⁰. The same year at the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, USA, she won two gold medals and one silver⁴. At the 2018 World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, the performance was even more remarkable: the International Weightlifting Federation had just reorganized weight categories to 59kg, and she broke all three world records in one go — snatch (105kg), clean & jerk (132kg), and total (237kg)¹¹. At the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand: clean & jerk 140kg and total 246kg — two more world records⁴. At the 2021 Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in April: snatch 110kg and total 247kg — two more world records¹².

Career total: eleven world records. The three peak numbers in the 59kg category: snatch 110, clean & jerk 140, total 247⁴.

The 236 Kilograms in Tokyo

July 27, 2021, Tokyo International Forum. Olympics under COVID-19 restrictions, with no spectators in the venue⁵.

Kuo Hsing-chun entered the competition holding three world records. On her first snatch attempt, 103kg — successful, directly breaking the Olympic record⁵. She chose conservative attempts for the next two, saving her energy for the clean & jerk. First clean & jerk attempt, 123kg, lifted firmly; second attempt, 133kg — the moment she succeeded, the gold medal was already secured, and both the clean & jerk and total Olympic records were simultaneously broken⁵.

Three attempts, three Olympic records. Total: 236kg.

For her third clean & jerk attempt she challenged 141kg — the same weight as the barbell that injured her in 2014. She failed¹³. But by then it no longer mattered. She knelt on the platform, hands pressed together in prayer.

"I believe all of Taiwan helped me lift that bar!"¹³

This was Taiwan's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and Taiwan's first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting history⁵.

Paris: A Third Medal Through Injury

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Kuo Hsing-chun was 30 years old, dealing with a persistent lower back injury. Snatch 105kg, clean & jerk 130kg, total 235kg — bronze medal⁶. Gold went to China's Luo Shifang (241kg), silver to Canada's Maude Charron (236kg).

On her final clean & jerk attempt she challenged 137kg — and failed. The back injury prevented her from generating power⁶.

"I don't care about the injury — I simply decided to let it hurt."¹⁴

The numbers were far below her peak, but the significance of this bronze goes beyond statistics. Kuo Hsing-chun became the first Taiwanese athlete to win medals at three consecutive Olympics — eighth in London, bronze in Rio, gold in Tokyo, bronze in Paris, an Olympic career spanning twelve years⁶.

Kuo Hsing-chun Off the Platform

The money Kuo Hsing-chun has given away exceeds the lifetime earnings of most Taiwanese athletes.

The 2016 Penghu ambulance: NT$1.5 million². The full NT$1.9 million in prize winnings from the 2017 Universiade donated back to the community, including NT$400,000 to Taitung's Baosang Junior High School¹⁵. A 2019 charity calendar produced with proceeds donated to the Tzu-Chi Foundation's Taitung branch, for care of vegetative patients¹⁵. In December 2024, in partnership with the Hung Tao Charity Foundation, another NT$100,000 donated to Taitung's Fengrong Elementary School and Baosang Junior High School¹⁵.

"I came from a remote community, so I know what kids in remote communities need." She says this repeatedly — not as a slogan. Every donation goes back to the places where she grew up.

Her great-grandmother passed down culture through song; she uses a barbell and a checkbook. Running through the bloodline of the Maalan tribe is probably not just talent, but an impulse to return what you have to the place that gave it to you.

Further Reading:

• Tai Tzu-ying — Also a core member of the Taiwan delegation at the Tokyo Olympics; the world's top badminton player
• Yang Yung-wei (/people/楊勇緯) — Tokyo Olympics judo silver medalist; Taiwan's first Olympic judo medal
• Lin Yang Duo (Wang Chi-lin and Lee Yang) (/people/麟洋配) — Tokyo Olympics men's doubles badminton gold medalists
• Lee Yang (/people/李洋) — Olympic double-gold champion who became the founding minister of the Sports Administration
• Li Chih-kai (/people/李智凱) — Tokyo Olympics gymnastics pommel horse silver; the "Rolling Boy's" twenty-year journey

References