The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Taiwan

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This page contains a list of the greatest Taiwanese Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 12 of which were born in Taiwan. This makes Taiwan the birth place of the 59th most number of Athletes behind Colombia, and Uzbekistan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Taiwanese Athletes of all time. This list of famous Taiwanese Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Taiwanese Athletes.

Photo of Yang Chuan-kwang

1. Yang Chuan-kwang (1933 - 2007)

With an HPI of 49.22, Yang Chuan-kwang is the most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages on wikipedia.

Yang Chuan-kwang, or C.K. Yang (Amis: Maysang Kalimud, Chinese: 楊傳廣; pinyin: Yáng Chuánguǎng; July 10, 1933 – January 27, 2007), was an Olympic decathlete from Taiwan. Yang attended college at UCLA, where he trained and competed with teammate and Olympian Rafer Johnson and was coached by Elvin C. Drake.

Photo of Chi Cheng

2. Chi Cheng (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 47.48, Chi Cheng is the 2nd most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Chi Cheng (Chinese: 紀政; born March 15, 1944) is a Taiwanese athlete in track and field. She was an Olympic medalist in 1968 and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1970. She was a former pentathlete turned sprinter.

Photo of Kuo Hsing-chun

3. Kuo Hsing-chun (b. 1993)

With an HPI of 31.01, Kuo Hsing-chun is the 3rd most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Kuo Hsing-chun (Chinese: 郭婞淳; pinyin: Guō Xìngchún; Amis name: Tana; born 26 November 1993) is a Taiwanese Amis weightlifter, Olympic gold medalist, five time world champion, two time Universiade champion, Asian Games champion, and five time Asian champion, competing in the 58 kg division until 2018 and 59 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. She has set 11 senior world records in her career.

Photo of Chen Shih-hsin

4. Chen Shih-hsin (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 29.54, Chen Shih-hsin is the 4th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Chen Shih-hsin (Chinese: 陳詩欣; pinyin: Chén Shīxīn; born 16 November 1978) is the first Taiwanese athlete to win a gold medal at the Olympics. She won the gold medal in the women's 49-kilogram category in taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics on August 26. Chen was recognized as one of the Taiwanese Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 2001. Currently, she is an associate professor at University of Taipei. Chen is of Taiwanese Aboriginal descent, with her mother being a member of the Atayal tribe.

Photo of Chu Mu-yen

5. Chu Mu-yen (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 28.02, Chu Mu-yen is the 5th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Chu Mu-yen (Chinese: 朱木炎; pinyin: Zhū Mùyán; born 14 March 1982) is a Taiwanese Taekwondo athlete from Taiwan. He is the second Taiwanese athlete and the first male to win a gold medal at the Olympics, winning in men's under 58-kilogram class in Taekwondo at the Athens 2004 Games. In the 2008 Olympics, Chu won the bronze medal in the men's under 58-kilogram class in Taekwondo. He also won the gold medal in the 2003 World Taekwondo Championships.

Photo of Chen Wei-ling

6. Chen Wei-ling (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 27.35, Chen Wei-ling is the 6th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Chen Wei-ling (Chinese: 陳葦綾; pinyin: Chén Wěilíng; born 4 January 1982) is a Taiwanese Olympic weightlifter and powerlifter.

Photo of Lee Yang

7. Lee Yang (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 26.45, Lee Yang is the 7th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Lee Yang (Chinese: 李洋; pinyin: Lǐ Yáng; born 12 August 1995) is a Taiwanese badminton player. He is the Olympic men's doubles champion in 2020 and 2024, becoming the first unseeded men's doubles pair ever in Olympics history to win consecutive gold medals. Lee also won the bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, as well at the 2023 Asian Championships. With his former partner Wang Chi-lin, they reached a career high as World number 2 in September 2022.

Photo of Sung Yu-chi

8. Sung Yu-chi (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 26.44, Sung Yu-chi is the 8th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sung Yu-chi (Chinese: 宋玉麒; pinyin: Sòng Yùqí; born 16 January 1982 in Shulin, Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan) is a Taekwondo athlete from Republic of China. He competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, China and won the bronze medal.

Photo of Yang Yung-wei

9. Yang Yung-wei (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 25.90, Yang Yung-wei is the 9th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Yang Yung-wei (Chinese: 楊勇緯; pinyin: Yáng Yǒngwěi; Paiwan language: Drangadrang; born 28 September 1997) is a Taiwanese Paiwan judoka. He is the current silver Olympic medalist in the extra lightweight event. He also won one of the bronze medals in the men's 60 kg event at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Photo of Hsu Shu-ching

10. Hsu Shu-ching (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 24.06, Hsu Shu-ching is the 10th most famous Taiwanese Athlete.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Hsu Shu-ching (Chinese: 許淑淨; pinyin: Xǔ Shújìng; born 9 May 1991) is a Taiwanese weightlifter.

People

Pantheon has 36 people classified as Taiwanese athletes born between 1933 and 2002. Of these 36, 35 (97.22%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Taiwanese athletes include Chi Cheng, Kuo Hsing-chun, and Chen Shih-hsin. The most famous deceased Taiwanese athletes include Yang Chuan-kwang. As of April 2024, 24 new Taiwanese athletes have been added to Pantheon including Wei Chun-heng, Mazen Al-Yassin, and Yang Chun-han.

Living Taiwanese Athletes

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Deceased Taiwanese Athletes

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Newly Added Taiwanese Athletes (2024)

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