TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s women’s tug-of-war team claimed the country’s first gold medal at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu on Sunday, defeating Switzerland 2-0 in the women’s 500-kilogram final for a sixth consecutive title in the event.

The competition featured six teams — Taiwan, the US, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and the UK — in a round-robin format. The top four advanced to the knockout stage, per CNA.

Taiwan finished the preliminaries with a 5-0 record before beating Germany 2-0 in the semifinals. In the final, the first pull was evenly contested before Taiwan shifted to an offensive strategy, securing the match in straight pulls.

The winning lineup comprised Lu Yi-jia (呂宜家), Tien Chia-hsin (田嘉欣), Tien Chia-jung (田嘉蓉), Chen Yueh-ting (陳岳庭), Lin Meng-zhu (林夢筑), Lai Ting-yu (賴亭諭), Ko Wen-lin (柯雯綝), and Hung Ning-hsuan (洪甯暄). Four also competed on the gold medal-winning squad at the previous World Games.

Under Taiwan’s regulations, each team member will receive a medal and NT$600,000 (US$20,085) in prize money.

Held every four years, the 12th World Games runs from Aug. 7-17. This year’s program includes sports set to debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to the Olympics.

After the first three days of competition, Taiwan has won one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. In addition to the women’s tug-of-war gold, Huang Mei-chien (黃渼茜) took silver in the women’s 50-meter bi-fins swimming, Liu Chang-min (劉菖閔) won bronze in the men’s Nanquan-Nangun combined wushu, and the men’s eight-seat dragon boat team earned bronze in the 200-meter race.