Su Li-wen (; born 13 December 1980) is a Taiwanese

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner. She won gold medals for the lightweight (63 kg) category at the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, and at the

2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, ...

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...

. Su represented

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where she competed and played for the women's 57 kg category. She aggravated a left knee injury in her first round defeat to South Korea's Lim Su-Jeong, who scored only a single point. Because her opponent advanced further into the final for a gold medal match, Su qualified for the repechage bout, where she scored a single point and defeated New Zealand's

Robin Cheong Robin Haeyoun Cheong (born 16 December 1988 in Republic of Korea) is a New Zealand taekwondo athlete, who competed in the Women's 57 kg class at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China reaching quarter finals and eventually ranked 7th. ...

. In the bronze medal match, Su continued fighting despite falling to the mat for eleven times in visible pain, having suffered from a sustained foot injury, and being advised by her coach to stop. She tied with Croatia's

Martina Zubčić Martina Zubčić (born June 3, 1989 in Zagreb) is a Croatian taekwondo athlete, who competed in the Women's 57 kg class at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a coun ...

for a score of 4–4 in the first three rounds, but lost a match by a decisive point in the fourth and final round. Su was carried from the mat by her coach, and was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. Su finished fifth in the women's taekwondo tournament, yet she was widely regarded as the nation's most outstanding athlete at the Olympics, lauded by fans and politicians for her fighting spirit and display of sportsmanship. President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, 馬英九, born 13 July 1950) is a Hong Kong-born Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from ...

immediately called her to express his admiration of courage, fortitude, and perseverance she had demonstrated in the match.

References

External links

*
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Li-wen Taiwanese female taekwondo practitioners 1980 births Living people Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Taiwan Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2002 Asian Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Chinese Taipei Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in taekwondo FISU World University Games gold medalists for Chinese Taipei World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century Taiwanese women