Known as Taiwan's "Gymnastics Elf," Ting Hua-tien has already made history as the country's first female Olympic gymnast in 50 years. TaiwanPlus meets her in Kaohsiung as she gets ready to head to Paris.
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00:00Meet Taiwan's gymnastics elf.
00:05She's no mythical being.
00:06She gets her nickname because she's nimble and dexterous.
00:1021-year-old Ding Huatian is known for her artistry on the balance beam.
00:15She first started learning gymnastics at 4 years old and made her international debut
00:20at 13.
00:21In 2019, she was the balance beam Asian artistic gymnastics champion.
00:26Ding is now limbering up for the Paris Olympics, the second one of her career.
00:31She's worked hard to earn her place at the Games this year.
00:42For someone so young, Ding's already accomplished a lot.
00:46She first qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, becoming the first female gymnast
00:51to compete for Taiwan since 1968.
00:55Ding says making history was never her goal.
00:58She was always focused on doing her best and pushing her limits one routine at a time.
01:13But her ambitious attitude is something her coach needs to temper from time to time.
01:31Ding's Olympic appearance is far from her only record-breaking accomplishment.
01:35She is also the first Taiwanese person to have an official gymnastics move named after
01:39her in the Gymnastic Code of Points, the game's rulebook of the scoring system for
01:44each sport.
01:46Her move is called the ding, and the code defines it as a split leap to ring position
01:52with a half turn.
01:53It looks like this.
01:56Ding's coach has been training her since she was 9 years old.
02:02He says she just has a knack for excellence.
02:15With the Olympics only a month away, Ding's coach is coming in hot with a plan to secure
02:20a win at Paris.
02:40But at the end of the day, he just wants people to get excited about his protege.
02:44Ding Huatian has an Asian championship, two Olympic berths, and a gymnastics maneuver
02:49to her name.
02:51While some athletes go their entire careers without achieving any of those things, Ding
02:55doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
02:58And she'll be taking that spirit with her to Paris, hoping to keep smashing records
03:02and proving that her best is yet to come.
03:05Justin Wu, Sandy Chee, and Leslie Liao in Kaohsiung for Taiwan Plus.