The Sports Affairs Council announced yesterday that Taiwan has qualified to compete in the Beijing Olympics in eight disciplines: track and field, archery, swimming, women's softball, taekwondo, weightlifting, shooting and table tennis.
Thirty-seven Taiwanese athletes will compete, 24 of whom are female.
The council said Beijing was likely to follow the Olympic convention of referring to the Taiwanese as "Chinese Taipei."
"Their attitude is that they do not want any unpleasant incidents to mar what is supposed to be a joyful event," said Wu Chun-che (吳俊哲), director of the council's international sports department.
The announcement was made at a conference at which the council briefed the media on its achievements last year and plans for this year.
Wu said the council was planning to host a second international marathon in either Kaohsiung or Tainan on an annual basis.
About 110,000 runners, many of whom were foreign nationals, took part in last year's ING Taipei International Marathon on Dec. 16, Wu said.
The second marathon could be held near Chengching Lake (澄清湖), Kaohsiung County, he said.
Tainan, the Taiwan's Qing Dynasty capital and home to numerous historical sites, would also be a good option, Wu said.
Minister Yang Chung-ho (楊忠和) said the council hoped to establish four national sports parks.
A 250-hectare facility in Taitung has been designed to attract athletes from overseas who needed to train in warm weather conditions, he said.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946