TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan dispatched three F-16 fighter jets to accompany its Olympic athletes on the final hours of their flight home from the Paris Games on Tuesday.
Competing under the name Chinese Taipei, Taiwanese athletes brought home seven medals — two golds and five bronzes — the second-best result for the island in an Olympic Games.
Most notably, boxer Lin Yu-ting clinched gold in the women’s boxing final match on Sunday, an emotional win that comes as she and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif have been ensnared in a major row over their gender eligibility.
But both the Taiwanese government and public have thrown their support behind Lin, turning out in large crowds for organized watch parties in her hometown of New Taipei City.
To welcome the athletes flying home Tuesday on a chartered plane by home carrier EVA, President Lai Ching-te “ordered that three F-16 fighter jets be sent to escort the flight home,” the Presidential Office said.
According to footage released by the defense ministry, the jets coasted alongside the green-tailed commercial plane, occasionally releasing celebratory flares into the morning sky.
The athletes also got a hero’s welcome on land, with fans swarming Lin at the airport for autographs and selfies. The other Olympians donned flower crowns and giant leis.
Lin — who has been dubbed “Taiwan’s daughter” by both local media and President Lai — said it was “pretty cool.”
“It feels like I suddenly got the spotlight overnight. I feel honored to have this title, but also feel the responsibility that comes along with it,” she told reporters at the airport.
“I hope to be a good role model.”
She added that to stay focused on her performance — instead of the gender controversy roiling outside the ring — she had turned off social media.
Lin and Khelif were thrown out of last year’s world championships — which was run by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) — but they were cleared by the International Olympic Committee to compete in Paris.
IBA’s Kremlin-linked president claimed in a chaotic press conference that the two women had undergone “genetic testing that shows that these are men.”