Cottbus: Taiwan's Tokyo Olympian Shiao Yu-jan clinched the gold medal in the men's pommel horse competition at the 2025 Cottbus World Cup in Germany. Shiao achieved this feat on Saturday, marking a significant milestone with a score of 14.433 points, as it represents his first World Cup-level gold medal.
According to Focus Taiwan, Shiao, who is currently a first-year doctoral student at the University of Taipei, had ranked third in the qualifying round. He achieved a difficulty score of 5.400, an execution score of 8.800, and a total of 14.200, which allowed him to progress to the final round.
Shiao's coach, Cheng Kun-chieh, mentioned that the judges initially assigned Shiao a difficulty score of 5.600. However, after a protest, this score was adjusted to 5.700, which contributed to Shiao's gold medal win. Cheng noted that the scoring standards in the final were stricter, leading him to believe that Shiao's total score could have exceeded 14.600 under more lenient judging.
Shiao expressed that winning the gold medal has significantly boosted his confidence and marked a positive beginning to the new year. Cheng added that the victory is a testament to the effectiveness of their training and gymnastic choreography, and the experience provided valuable insights into judging criteria.