Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Vice President Annette Lu received Taiwan's athletes who won medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, saying that they did their best to win glory for the nation.
Taiwan's athletes, including taekwondo gold medalists Chen Shih-hsin and Chu Mu-yen, returned home Wednesday with a respectable haul -- winning two gold medals, two silvers and one bronze to take 31st spot in the overall medal standings. The result was Taiwan's best ever at an Olympics.
Lu told the athletes that all the people of Taiwan are proud of their outstanding performance, saying that their marvelous achievements will be a great stimulus for the government to cultivate more athletes to take part in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The vice president disclosed that the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports under the Executive Yuan has worked out a concrete athletes' training plan for the next summer Olympics.
This year's Olympics in Athens was the first time that Taiwan had won Olympic gold. The two silver medals were won by Huang Chih-hsiung in the men's under-68kg featherweight taekwondo, and by the archery men's team, while the archery women's team won a bronze.