Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan said here Saturday he was thrilled at the unexpected Olympic medal at the Beijing Olympics gained by a woman weightlifter from the Chinese Taipei.

Chen Wei-Ling of the Chinese Taipei won the bronze medal of women's 48kg class weightlifting on the first day of Olympic competition, next to gold medallist Chen Xiexia of China who broke the Olympic record and silver medallist Turk Sibel Ozkan.

"It's too soon to get the bronze and I am particularly joyous that the two weightlifters from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would stand side by side on the award podium," Lien said.

"I'm very much interested in cheering for the hard-working girl from Kaohsiung," Lien said. "It's hard to get a medal in such a tense competition this morning."

"This is the big pride that our athletes are performing so well," he said.

Commenting on the avid accolade of spectators, mostly Chinese, to the two Chens (no relations) from the mainland and Taiwan, Lien said, "It's a natural outburst of deep care of the Chinese toward each other."

"Also congratulations to the mainland athletes, and they have earned respect for their excellence and great sportsmanship," Lien said.

Lien said he believes the Chinese Taipei Olympians are strong competitors for archery, taekwondo and baseball. "I hope they could achieve more than what they had in each of the previous Olympic Games."

In the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Chinese Taipei took home two gold medals, two silvers and one bronze.

Lien said he would stay in Beijing with the Olympics for another couple of days.

Speaking of the grand Olympic opening at Friday night, Lien said the ceremony was very impressive. "We the Chinese show the world our grandeur and the elegance of our culture," the veteran politician said.

Source: Xinhua