About Ku Chin-shui
Lived 1960 – 2016 (aged 56). Ku Chin-shui was a Taiwanese decathlete, pole vaulter and athletics competitor.
Ku Chin-shui (, 15 January 1960 – 25 May 2016) was an Amis Taiwanese decathlete and pole vaulter. He medaled for Chinese Taipei at the Asian Athletics Championships six times, winning one gold medal, two silver medals, and three bronze medals. At the 1990 Asian Games, he earned a silver medal in the decathlon. Upon retiring from athletics, he became a physical education teacher.
Post-athletic life On 24 August 1999, an explosion on board a landed Uni Air plane, Flight 873, injured 28 people and killed Ku Jing-chi (C: 古金池, P: Gǔ Jīnchí), the older brother of Ku Chin-shui.
A report from the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) stated that the cause of the fire was the interaction of two luggage items that happened to be in overhead compartments. Firstly, gasoline had leaked from a plastic bottle and, secondly, a motorcycle battery had been jostled, causing an electric arc that ignited fumes from the gasoline.
Prosecutors accused Ku Chin-shui of asking his nephew to take gasoline on the flight. Ku was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. Upon appeal, the sentence was shortened to seven and a half years. After a fifth retrial, he was declared not guilty. The ASC had commissioned an analysis from the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, which said the ASC's simulation environment differed from that of the aircraft which had exploded."
Ku was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 and died of plasma cell leukemia on 25 May 2016 at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei.
International competitions This performance was calculated using the 1977 IAAF scoring tables and in the modern 1985 IAAF tables, is worth 7614 points
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ku Chin-shui's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Ku Chin-shui?
Taiwanese track athlete
When was Ku Chin-shui born?
Ku Chin-shui was born on 15 January 1960 in Hualien City.
When did Ku Chin-shui die?
Ku Chin-shui died on 25 May 2016 in National Taiwan University Hospital.
What was Ku Chin-shui's occupation?
Ku Chin-shui was a decathlete, pole vaulter and athletics competitor.
What nationality was Ku Chin-shui?
Ku Chin-shui was Taiwanese.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ku Chin-shui. https://biography.guide/ku-chin-shui/
MLA: "Ku Chin-shui." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ku-chin-shui/.
Chicago: "Ku Chin-shui." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ku-chin-shui/.
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