Hsieh Chia-han

Hsieh Chia-han
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Chinese Taipei
East Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Hong Kong Pole vault
Asian Indoor Athletics Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Hangzhou Pole vault

Hsieh Chia-han (Chinese: 謝佳翰; born 14 January 1988) is a Taiwanese pole vaulter. He is the national record holder with his personal best of 5.32 m (17 ft 5+1⁄4 in). He was the gold medallist at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in 2014.

He made his international debut at the 2005 World Youth Championships in Athletics and set a personal best of 4.70 m (15 ft 5 in) in the qualifying round.[1] He cleared five metres for the first time in 2009, setting an outdoor best of 5.10 m (16 ft 8+3⁄4 in) and an indoor best of 5.12 m (16 ft 9+1⁄2 in). At the 2009 Universiade he did not get past the qualifying stages. He was a finalist at the 2009 Asian Athletics Championships (coming eighth) and took the bronze medal at the 2009 East Asian Games.[2][3]

In 2010 he improved his best to 5.20 m (17 ft 1⁄2 in) and placed ninth at the Asian Games. He won four consecutive national titles from 2010 to 2013.[2] The 21-year-old Taiwanese record in the pole vault fell to Hsieh in September 2011, breaking Lee Fu-an's long-standing mark by one centimetre with a clearance of 5.31 m (17 ft 5 in).[4] He was the seventh-place finisher at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and improved to fifth place at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships two years later. He improved the national record by a further centimetre in April 2013, but failed to return to the podium at the 2013 East Asian Games, where he was fourth overall.[2]

He began his 2014 season in the United States and cleared 5.30 m (17 ft 4+1⁄2 in) indoors at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno, Nevada. He followed this national indoor record with a win at the 2014 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships.[5]

  1. ^ Chia-Han Hsieh. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-17.
  2. ^ a b c Hsieh Chia-Han. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-02-17.
  3. ^ Krishnan, Ram. Murali (2009-12-12). China's Liu Qing completes double but overall it's Japan's day - East Asian Games, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-02-17.
  4. ^ PE major breaks national pole vault record from '90. The China Post. Retrieved on 2014-02-17.
  5. ^ 6th ASIAN INDOOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS Day 1 Results Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine. Asian Athletics Association. Retrieved on 2014-02-17.