Taipei, Aug. 26 (CNA) Taiwan bagged four gold, three silver and one bronze medals at the 16th International Earth Science Olympiad, placing second among 32 countries, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Saturday.
In a statement, the ministry said Taiwan is only behind the United States in the overall ranking. The U.S. grabbed four gold and four silver medals in the international competition that was held online between Aug. 20-25.
Taiwan sent eight competitors to the competition, and four of them -- Ho Liang-hung (何亮宏), Chen Yu-lin (陳宥潾) and Yang Chueh-hsi (楊爵禧) from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, and Wu Chun-hsien (吳俊賢) from Tainan First Senior High School -- won golds, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Chen Yu-hsun (陳宥勳) from Taichung Municipal Taichung First Senior High School, Chen Po-yu (陳柏宇) from Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School, and Yang Yi (楊佾) from National Hualien Senior High School took silver medals, while Chang Chia-chen (張嘉宸) from the Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University won a bronze medal, the ministry added.
Ho, who took gold and gained the highest score of all the competitors, said he likes to challenge himself to do his best, adding that "seeking and exploring my potential and interests is my favorite thing to do."
Ho not only excels in earth science, but also performed well in International Internet Intelligent Ironman Creativity Contest, The International Biological Olympiad and English debate competitions.
Ho also said that he had make a lot of friends during the training and competition, and developed a stronger mentality to face stress.
Meanwhile, Wu, who also performed well in the competition, said he has always had unlimited imagination about the skies since he was little, and had actively searched for related content such as information about the black hole and neutron star.
Wu said he not only explored the universe through text books, but also tried to understand more about space when he spent time outdoors.
The ministry pointed out that Taiwan has been performing well in the competition, and has won first place in overall performance 11 times in the past competitions.
The eight high school students representing Taiwan this year were selected from 498 students from 92 schools, the ministry added.
According to MOE regulations, students who win gold, silver and bronze medals at the competition will receive NT$200,000 (US$6,283), NT$100,000 and NT$50,000, respectively, and can gain admission to the department of earth science, or other departments in Taiwan's universities.
