Taiwanese Olympic silver medalist Yang Yung-Wei won the award for best male athlete for the first time. He is the best ever athlete of Taipei in history, reports Judo Inside.
Yang was honored with the annual awards at a ceremony in Taipei, which, despite losing some luster with many award recipients either competing overseas or in quarantine, was attended by Vice President William Lai.
The judoka was part of Taiwan’s Tokyo Olympics team this year, at which Taiwanese athletes put in their best-ever showing, winning two gold, four silver and six bronze medals to finish in 34th place overall based on the number of gold medals won.
The female award went to Olympic weightlifting gold medalist Kuo Hsing-Chun.
Yang took home silver in the men’s under-60kg judo in Tokyo, Taiwan’s first-ever in the sport at the Games, and also won a gold medal at the Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi.
The judoka’s excellent season meant he finished the year ranked world No. 1 in the men’s U60kg category. Yang won his first best male athlete award ahead of Tokyo Olympics silver medalist gymnast Lee Chih-kai, Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist golfer Pan Cheng-tsung and archer Tang Chih-Chun.
