TAOYUAN (TVBS News) — Yang Yung-wei (楊勇緯), known as the "Judo Heartthrob," returned to Taiwan on Tuesday (Aug. 6) and announced plans to coach at his alma mater, the National Taiwan University of Sport (NTUS, 國立臺灣體育運動大學). However, he has not yet decided whether to officially retire from competing.
Yang wanted to pass on his skills and life lessons to the next generation, and officially accepted his new coaching role at NTUS on Aug. 1.
The judoka expressed dissatisfaction with his performance at the recent Olympics. He lost a crucial repechage to his Japanese rival, Ryuju Nagayama (永山龍樹), missing out on a medal. Despite the outcome, Yang said he gave his best effort.
At the airport, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), National Taiwan University of Sport President Hsu Kuang-piao (許光麃), and students from Shin Min High School (新民高中) also welcomed the athlete home. Yang thanked everyone for their support.
Yang earned a master's degree from the Department of Sport Performance (競技運動學系) at NTUS in January and was admitted to the doctoral program at the same department in April.