TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Middle school athlete Lin Pei-hsuan (林沛萱) on Tuesday (April 25) broke the women's national record for the high jump in the pentathlon and reached the standard for the Asian Games.

While competing in the pentathlon at the National Middle School Athletic Games held in Hsinchu County, Lin leaped 1.81 meters in the high jump, shattering the record of 1.80 set by Tang Li-wen (唐莉文) from Hsinchu's Zhudong Junior High School in 1991, reported the Hsinchu County General Affairs Department. This makes her only the third female middle student in Taiwan's history to meet the standards for the Asian Games, and the first since Taiwan returned to the international competition under the name of Chinese Taipei in 1990.

Lin Pei-hsuan competes in shot put. (Hsinchu County General Affairs Department photo)

However, an official from the Hsinchu County General Affairs Department told Taiwan News that because Lin is still only a middle school student, she is not yet eligible to compete in the Asian Games.

With a combined score for the five events of 3,907 points, she also broke the 26-year-old total points record of 3,896 set in 1997, as she took the gold in the women's pentathlon. Lin was cited by Liberty Times as saying that her performance in the high jump and 100 meters hurdles met her expectations.

Lin competing in hurdles. (Hsinchu County General Affairs Department photo)

However, she said that she was disappointed with her other three events, which included the 800-meter race, high jump, and shot put, with her performance in the latter falling 50 cm behind her personal best. This led to her coming short of her goal of breaking 4,000 points in the pentathlon.

Lin was cited by UDN as stating that she got into track and field because she thought running was fun, and she liked to win first place in track meets. Her coach, Chen Hung-chieh (陳鴻傑), told the newspaper that Lin has a high degree of self-discipline and usually feels that the training regimen is not intense enough and prepares her own meals to control her weight.

Lin competes in long jump. (Hsinchu County General Affairs Department photo)

The athlete said that in the future, she plans to continue to specialize in the pentathlon instead of focusing only on the high jump with the hopes of reaching the international standard for the five-event competition.

Lin stands next to record-setting height of 1.81 m in high jump. (Hsinchu County General Affairs Department photo)

Lin (center) stands with her gold medal on the podium. (Hsinchu County General Affairs Department photo)