Lien Chan, honorary chairman of Taiwan's governing Kuomintang Party, was present when Chen Wei-ling won the bronze medal for Chinese Taipei in the Olympic weightlifting for women up to 48 kg. Behind gold medalist Chen Xiexia of China, who broke the Olympic record, and silver medalist Sibel Ozkan (TUR). "It's too soon to get the bronze and I am particularly joyous that the two weightlifters from the two sides of the Strait could stand side by side on the award podium," Lien said.

The spectators' strong support for both weightlifters was "a natural outburst of deep care for each other being all Chinese," said Lien.

The Chinese Taipei athlete Chen Wei-ling, who had also won a bronze medal in powerlifting at The World Games 2005, was equally grateful to the crowd at the Beijing University Aeronautcis and Astronautics Gymnasium. The Kaohsiung resident said that the enthusiastic support from the spectators made her feel like being "at home."

"I love the people here who fueled me up for an excellent game," said Chen.

Read the full article on Chen Wei-ling's exploit in the Xinhua, China's official newsd agency, release of 09/08/2008, click here.

The Olympic formula works!