President William Lai (賴清德) today thanked fans for cheering on Team Taiwan in English and other languages, as the Paris Olympics formally came to a close.
Posting on Facebook, Lai said that sport is able to not only move people, but has also brought the nation together.
“I especially want to thank the many people online who over these past few weeks have used English and other languages to dispel rumors about [boxer] Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) on social media and show the spirit of Team Taiwan,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
He posted the message as Olympians in Paris attended the closing ceremony of this year’s Games.
A total of 60 Taiwanese participated in 16 events, winning two gold and five bronze medals — the nation’s second-best showing at an Olympic Games.
Every athlete has spent years honing their skills and competing around the world to earn their ticket to the Olympics, Lai said.
“Because of this, I would like to tell all the athletes thank you for giving it your all,” he wrote. “There is no need to apologize if you did not win. Just making it to the Olympics is already the greatest affirmation for yourselves and for Taiwan. The whole country is proud of you.”
The president also reiterated a promise made in his inaugural speech in May to create a sports ministry — upgraded from the current Sports Administration — to continue to develop the nation’s sports industry and support athletes.
Meanwhile, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), think tank director Ling Tao (凌濤) and other party members gave out chicken cutlets and bubble tea outside of KMT headquarters in Taipei this morning to celebrate the nation’s Olympic achievements.
Chu was keeping a promise he made yesterday to give out chicken cutlets to thank Lin for her gold-medal victory in the women’s 57kg boxing event.
Ling joined him in giving out 300 cutlets and 200 cups of bubble tea, which were gone after 20 minutes.
Chu also called on the public to support the creation of a sports ministry, which has a high level of consensus across all sides of the political spectrum.
He called on lawmakers to pass legislation to create the ministry at the upcoming session so that the ministry could be founded next year at the earliest.
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