Tang Jia-hung wins Taiwan's first gymnastics World Championship gold

Taiwanese gymnast Tang Jia-hung, known as the ‘World Cat King,’ won the gold medal in the horizontal bar final at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. His score of 14.966 marks the first World Championship gold medal in the history of Taiwan's gymnastics team.

Tang achieved the victory by performing a routine with a high difficulty score of 6.600, the highest among the eight finalists. This performance follows a setback at the Nagoya Asian Games, where a mistake during his signature ‘cat jump’ resulted in a fifth-place finish. To prepare for this championship, Tang worked with coaches and a psychologist to develop a mental management SOP, treating major finals with the same mindset as daily practice.

Tang credited his wife, Tseng Ruo-yu, as his ‘invisible coach,’ noting that her presence in Rotterdam provided essential emotional support and helped him manage his competitive intensity. Looking ahead, Tang aims to break the 16-point total score barrier and is focusing on qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.