TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Wang Yu-chun (王宥鈞) on Thursday (Oct. 5) bested his Chinese opponent for the gold medal in men's inline freestyle skating speed slalom at the Hangzhou Asian Games, while his teammate Huang Pin-ruei (黃品睿) captured the bronze medal.

In the men's and women's inline freestyle skating speed slalom events, Taiwan women's team started off by taking gold and bronze. The men's team followed by matching the women with 15-year-old Wang defeating Chinese athlete Zhang Hao (張顥) 2-0, while 16-year-old Huang defeated Iran's Reza Lesani 2-0, securing a bronze medal, reported UDN.

Earlier in the preliminaries, Huang had broken the world record of 3.949 seconds with a blistering pace of 3.885 seconds.

Wang Yu-chun crosses finish line. (Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee photo)

Wang, who started roller sports at the age of 3, has always set a high bar for himself. At one point, during his sixth-grade year in elementary school, he contemplated giving up because he could not keep up with the performance of middle school students. However, he persevered by creating imaginary rivals for himself, pushing him to prepare in advance.

Wang encountered another test this year. He suffered successive defeats in international competitions and was not selected for the World Championships and Asian Championships.

Wang holds up his gold medal. (Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee photo)

However, he proved himself on the Asian Games stage on Thursday. After the race, he said to a CNA reporter: "Many people will think that I’m not quite qualified, but this gold medal demonstrates that my hard work has paid off.”

Huang Pin-ruei in action. (Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee photo)

Huang holds up his bronze medal. (Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee photo)

Huang, Wang, and Zhang Hao pose for photo together. (Chinese Taipei Roller Sports Federation photo)