Chi Cheng (Chinese: 紀政; born March 15, 1944) is a Taiwanese politician and athlete in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. She was an Olympic medalist in 1968 and was named the

Associated Press Athlete of the Year The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women's sports, women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of th ...

for 1970. She was a former pentathlete turned sprinter.

Biography

Chi won a

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

scholarship and began her college education at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, later transferring to

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

(Cal Poly Pomona) in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

, where she received most of her athletic training. As a student there, she won four U.S. national championships and over a two-year period was the winner of 153 of the 154 events she entered. Representing the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, she ran in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

Olympics, then won the bronze medal in the women's 80-meter hurdles in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

and finished 7th in the 100 metre final. In 1969, she broke three world records and won the British

WAAA Championships The WAAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Women's Amateur Athletic Association (WAAA) in England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event for women during its lifetime. Since 1880, the Amateur Athl ...

titles in two events; the 100 metres and the 100 metres hurdles at the 1969 WAAA Championships. In 1970, she broke or tied five world records, accomplishing 3 in the space of just one week. She was first woman to run 10.0 second for 100 yards. She also ran world bests of 11.0 for 100 metres, 22.4 for 200 metres, 22.6 for 220 yards, and 12.8 for 100 metre hurdles. She won the gold medal in the 100 metres at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok in a games record time. While leading in the 400 metres at the same Asian Games, she suffered a severe leg cramp at 330 metres, which eventually led to a career ending injury. She was ranked number one in the world for 100 metres and 200 metres, second in the 400 metres and third in 100 metres hurdles in 1970 and was undefeated in 69 races that season. Despite not competing in any high level international championships after 1970, Cheng continued to compete for several years domestically under the name Chi Cheng Reel for the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos track and field team, winning several DGWS national titles. She officially retired in 1973. For her achievement, Chi Cheng was named the

. Also, she became the Director of Women's Athletics at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

, California, from 1974 to 1976. Chi naturalised as a U.S. citizen, but later returned to Taiwan. She was appointed the Secretary-General of the Republic of China Track and Field Association in 1977. Subsequently, she was Chairman until 1993 and Board Member from 1998 to 1999. Chi won three terms as a member of the

Legislative Yuan The Legislative Yuan () is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China (Taiwan) located in Taipei. The Legislative Yuan is composed of 113 members, who are directly elected for four-year terms by people of the Taiwan Area through a ...

, serving from 1981 to 1989. She was appointed a National Policy Advisor by President

Ma Ying-jeou Ma Ying-jeou ( zh, t=馬英九; pinyin: ''Mǎ Yīngjiǔ''; ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician, lawyer, and legal scholar who served as the sixth president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Kuomintang (KMT ...

in 2009, which required her to renounce her U.S. citizenship in order to take the position. Ma's successor,

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

, retained Chi as an advisor. Chi stated in 2018 that Taiwanese people should be allowed to vote for the name under which Taiwanese athletes compete in the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and future sports events, as Taiwanese as sent delegations to the Olympics since 1984 as

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chi, Cheng 1944 births Living people Taiwanese female long jumpers Taiwanese female sprinters Taiwanese female hurdlers Taiwanese pentathletes Taiwanese sportsperson-politicians 20th-century Taiwanese women politicians Asian Games gold medalists for Chinese Taipei Asian Games silver medalists for Chinese Taipei Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1966 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 Asian Games Olympic athletes for Taiwan Olympic bronze medalists for Taiwan Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Kuomintang Members of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Members of the 1st Legislative Yuan in Taiwan Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Hsinchu Cal Poly Pomona Broncos Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Former United States citizens American female sprinters Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) American female long jumpers Medalists at the 1966 Asian Games Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Senior advisors to President Ma Ying-jeou Senior advisors to President Tsai Ing-wen USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners People from Hsinchu People who renounced United States citizenship World record setters in athletics (track and field) Hawaii Rainbow Wahine track and field athletes Cal Poly Pomona Broncos women's track and field athletes 20th-century American sportswomen