Taiwanese breaker wins silver in Dakar

Taiwanese athlete Lin Yung-yueh on Friday won a silver medal in the boys’ dance breaking event at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games in Senegal.

As the last member of Taiwan’s delegation to compete in this year’s multisport event, Lin advanced to the quarter-finals as the top finisher in his group. He then won two consecutive knockout rounds to reach the gold-medal battle.

However, Lin lost 3-0 to China’s Cui Shengyu in the final and had to settle for silver.

Taiwan’s Lin Yung-yueh competes in the B-Boys Gold Medal Battle at the Dakar Youth Olympic Games in Senegal on Friday.

Photo: AFP

Team Taiwan coach Hsiao Sheng-wen said that Lin had followed his planned rhythm during the competition, but the judges’ unanimous decision in the final showed that he still had room to improve, particularly in his style and fundamentals.

Lin said the final was his best performance to date, adding that the Youth Olympics felt different from other international events, and that it motivated him to prepare harder despite the added pressure.

Lin’s silver medal, which came in Taiwan’s final event of the Games, capped the delegation’s campaign with two golds, four silvers and three bronzes, placing Taiwan 19th in the overall medal standings.

Chen Mei-yen, who headed the delegation, gave the athletes and coaches a perfect score, saying that the hot weather in Dakar and less-than-comfortable conditions at the athletes’ village helped bring the team closer together.

The Youth Olympic Games, an international sporting event organized by the International Olympic Committee for athletes aged 15 to 17, concluded on Friday.