Sergeant Chen Weirou, a logistics officer of the 2nd Machinery Infantry Company of the 2nd Machinery Infantry Battalion of the Army Taitung Regional Command, represented my country in the "2026 Asian Classic and Equipment Benchlift Championships" and won the gold medal in the open women's 47kg category. (Provided by East Finger Department)
[Reporter Liu Renwei/Taitung Report] Sergeant Chen Weirou, a logistics officer at the Taitung Regional Command of the Army, practiced strength training in junior high school. When she was a student at Dongdong University of Technology, she once set a record that surpassed that of Asian young women. Although she failed to achieve good results in the national competition 10 years ago, she was eager to return to the competition after joining the army and was injured. On the 24th, she represented my country in the "2026 Asian Classic and Equipment Benchlift Championships" and won the gold medal in the open women's 47kg category with a score of 75kg.
The muscle memory of the past is not only retained in the muscles, but also in the blood of the whole body. The military stated that Chen Chenweirou has been exposed to Jianli since the first grade of junior high school. During her student days, she repeatedly achieved great results in national competitions and traveled to South Africa, France, Japan and other places to participate in international competitions. In 2009, Chen Weirou, who was still studying at Gongdong Polytechnic, surpassed the Asian young women's record in the 44kg squat and total with 137.5kg and 342.5kg respectively in the National Elite Cup Strength and Conditioning Championships. Pan Wenxuan, a school girl from the same school, also broke the record with squatting.
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She graduated from college 11 years ago and joined the National Army as a volunteer. In 2016, Chen Weirou participated in the National Games held in Taichung, but failed to achieve good results. Even if the barbell was lowered from her body, she never put it down in her heart.
In the army, Chen Weirou's focus of life turned to the army, and she served as a driver, deputy squad leader, and currently serves as a company logistics officer. In recent years, while supporting the National Army Physical Fitness Testing Station, she took advantage of her spare time to re-invest in training, once again rekindled her fighting spirit to challenge the competitive stage, and decided to go all out to obtain the qualification of a national player.
Returning to the competitive scene has not been easy. Chen Weirou said that at first, she was eager to return to her former state and was injured due to overtraining. Through the professional advice of a physical therapist and the encouragement of her colleagues, she readjusted her class schedule and struck a balance between training and recovery.
During the preparation period, her unit was participating in joint drills. Faced with intensive combat training tasks, she focused on combat training and used her spare time to train. She also "sourced local materials" and used heavy objects such as bricks for muscle strength training. During her vacation, she went to the gym independently. In addition to the intensive combat training tasks, she continued to move towards the goal of representing the country.
After nearly a year of preparation, Chen Weirou successfully qualified as a national player in May this year, and faced top players from all over the world in the Asian Championships in September. In the open women's 47kg event, she successfully completed the bench press with 70kg for the first time. She also raised the weight to 75kg for the second time and finished it steadily, finally winning the gold medal. After confirming the championship, she directly challenged the national record of 82.5kg for the third time. Although she failed, she still showed her ambition to break through the limit. Chen Weirou pointed out that just like facing every combat training mission in the military career, only by continuing to improve and having the courage to challenge can we continue to break through ourselves and see more possibilities.
After ten years of sharpening a sword, the cold light shocked Asia. It has been exactly 10 years since the last national competition in 2016. This time she won the gold medal in the Asian Classic and Equipment Benchlift Championships. When the Chinese Olympic anthem rang at the event venue, Chen Weirou said, "I am really touched." Now that she is in the national army, she can regain the excitement of competing in the competition field in the past. She is grateful to her unit commander and colleagues for their support and encouragement along the way, which became an important backing for her to pursue her goals.
In 2009, Chen Weirou (left) broke the Asian young women's record that year. (Photo from this newspaper’s file)
Training in combat skills also requires training. Not only can you do both, but you can also achieve great results. (Provided by East Finger Department)
