TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Chang Chu-han (張筑涵), Taiwan's first athlete to compete in two consecutive Olympic canoe slalom events, will join her cousin Wu Shao-hsuan (吳少璿) in the upcoming Paris Olympics. Chang aims to advance to the finals, having gained confidence from her gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in 2023.
Chang, 31, started her athletic journey in elementary school as a tug-of-war team member before switching to canoeing in sixth grade. She debuted at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games at 16, finishing fifth in the canoe slalom event. Over the years, she earned a silver medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and a bronze at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.
The rigorous training for canoeing once made Chang consider quitting. However, encouragement from her family and coach helped her persevere. Her performance at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships secured her a spot in the Tokyo Olympics, making her the first Taiwanese athlete to compete in the women's K1 canoe slalom.
Chang's Tokyo Olympics performance fell short of expectations, finishing 26th, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact. Nevertheless, her gold medal in the women's K1 canoe slalom at the Hangzhou Asian Games reignited her motivation.
Securing her ticket to the Paris Olympics at the end of 2023, Chang reflected on her journey, stating that she has developed a more mature mindset for competition and hopes to use her performance to garner more attention and resources for canoeing.