Fight as one

The romantic interlude capped a highly successful campaign in Chengdu for the Chinese taekwondo squad, who credit teamwork and a strong sense of national pride for their medal haul.

"We always have the same goal, which is to win gold and raise our national flag at all the important competitions. We want to raise the spirits of the Chinese student-athletes at the games, and I want to bring honor to our nation," said Hu.

"As the captain of the team. I always lead the team to train under the coach's instruction. We assign goals for each training session and achieve them. And then repeat this again and again. The key to our great results here is that we always help each other and improve together.

"My teammates here at the World University Games are all outstanding student-athletes. I just feel so lucky to eventually earn the chance to represent our nation at the games. And our bond and friendship with each other are so valuable."

For the triumphant mixed pair, cooperation and teamwork are especially important to master.

"The men's and women's pairs normally have similar speed or strength, but the mixed pairs have different speeds," Liu explained.

"The female athletes are more flexible and the male athletes are more explosive. It's challenging to perform as one, so we need to think more about each other and improve together. We have been very supportive to each other."

Captain Hu added that the three of them have been in the team for many years, so he has experienced and witnessed the transformative power of taekwondo.

"I have been practicing taekwondo for over a decade. This sport has changed my life. It makes me more confident and braver. Physically and mentally, I'm much stronger than when I was a boy," said Hu.

And speaking of the future, Hu said he would like to stick with the sport as long as possible.

"As we are getting older, we are facing that question whether we will continue to practice this sport after graduation," he said. "For us, as long as we can still compete, we will keep trying in the sport and win more honors."