Boy holds a Guinness World Records title for the largest medal sentence

By Su Meng-chuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer





A seven-year-old boy from Taichung has set a Guinness World Record for the largest medal sentence that consists of 1,152 medals.

Wu Tsung-hsiu (吳宗修), who last month in New York won his 158th medal at an international competition, was sent to marital arts training by his parents after he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when he was three years old.

Wu’s parents first became aware of his condition after he got into a fight with another child on his first day of kindergarten and noticed that he was unable to sit still for any length of time, his father said.

Wu Tsung-hsiu, right, holds his Guinness World Record certificate at a ceremony in Taipei on Nov. 4. Photo courtesy of Wu Chin-chieh

Wu is an avid fan of Bruce Lee (李小龍), who he considers his idol, and said he wanted to be as “awesome” as the martial arts star, his father said.

Hoping to encourage his son to cultivate his interests and challenge himself, he sent Wu to martial arts classes, he added.

Seeing his son win gold medals in international competitions made him happy, but what made him even happier was seeing him “turn into a new person” in regard to his ability to focus and concentrate, he said.

Previously unable to finish his homework even after three hours, Wu can now focus and finish it on time, his father said.

Spurred on by his first gold medal in taekwondo, Wu began studying wing chun and more esoteric martial arts, including bajiquan (八極拳), which is normally studied by advanced adult students, Wu’s father said.

At a competition earlier this year in Hong Kong, Wu won gold medals in all categories, achieving “special honors” and winning praise from Hong Kong martial artists, who referred to him as a “future star,” his father said.

Wu’s father applied on his son’s behalf to Guinness World Records, which on Oct. 28 sent an official to Taiwan to inspect Wu’s medals and paperwork, and then register his record.

“Every time I win a gold medal I feel 100 percent happy. Now that I have this world record, I feel 1,000 percent happy. I hope I can be as great as Bruce Lee and also win an Olympic gold. Then I will be 10,000 percent happy,” Wu said.

This story has been amended since it was first published.