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Taiwan 2002 |
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Sports and Recreation |
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World Sports Events in the ROCThe ROC hosts a growing number of international competitions in Taiwan, furthering international exchanges and providing top-notch competition for Taiwan sports fans. In 2001, the world sports events held in Taiwan included the 21st Asian Cycling Championships and the 8th Asian Youth Cycling Championships in July, the 1st Asian Junior Taekwondo Championship in August, the 4th Junior Baseball Championship in September, the 34th World Cup Baseball Tournament in November, and the 13th Asian Women's Football Championship in December.In addition, the ROC was awarded the right to hold the 44th International Council for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sports and Dance (ICHPER.SD) World Congress in June 2002, the International School Children's Games between August 30 and September 3, 2002, and the World Table Tennis Championship for the Disabled in October 2002.
34th Baseball World CupThe Republic of China hosted the 34th Baseball World Cup in November 2001. The 13-day tournament, with 16 countries participating, helped win back the hearts of the island's baseball fans and injected life into the once popular baseball sport. Cuba beat the United States 5-3 at the packed Tienmu Stadium in Taipei to win the championship for the seventh time in a row. The ROC team beat Japan to clinch the third place. Panama ranked fifth; South Korea, sixth, the Netherlands, seventh; and the Dominican Republic, eighth.
National GamesIn 1998 it was decided that beginning in 1999, the Taiwan Area Games 臺灣區運動會, with a history of 25 years, would be replaced by the National Games 全民運動會 and held every two years. It was also decided that the competition categories would be limited to those at the Asian and Olympic Games. The purpose of this change was to internationalize, professionalize, and standardize the National Games. The last Taiwan Area Games were held in Tainan County in southern Taiwan in 1998. The first National Games were held in December 1999 in Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan. The second National Games were held in Kaohsiung in December 2001 in the southern part of Taiwan. Twenty-five counties and cities participated in 30 categories of competition at the games.Beginning in 2000, the National College Games were renamed the ROC National College Games. The Minghsing Institute of Technology in Hsinchu held the ROC National College Games between April 23 and April 28, 2000, with 242 competitions. All told, 117 universities and colleges participated, with 4,772 athletes and team members. The games are held each year between March and May, and last from four to six days.
KuoshuThe development of traditional Chinese sports is vital to the preservation of Chinese culture. Kuoshu 國術, or "Chinese martial arts," is a collective name for more than 20 different styles of martial arts, including the better known tai chi chuan. Kuoshu is a recognized sport in the Asian Games. Reflective of Taiwan's commitment to kuoshu, the Chinese Taipei Kuoshu Federation 中華國術總會 receives funding directly from the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the ROC is the headquarters of the International Chinese Kuoshu Federation 中華民國國術國際聯盟總會. During the Third East Asian Games held in Osaka, Japan, between May 18 and May 28, 2001, the ROC Kuoshu delegation won one silver and two bronze medals. The ROC team won four silver and three bronze medals during the First Asian Youth Kuoshu Championship held in Vietnam in 2001, and attended the Sixth World Kuoshu Championship held in Armenia in October 2001.
Training Amateur AthletesTo seek out and cultivate potential athletes and develop new sports with distinctive features, the central government continues to assist and guide county and city governments in establishing basic-level training centers, which are under sports and recreation centers. Efforts are also made to establish training centers for outstanding athletes who can compete in important international sports events such as the Olympic Games or Asian Games.The Tsoying National Athletes' Training Center continues to be responsible for cultivating and training outstanding athletes in the military. In 2001, there were four coaches and 55 athletes at the center. In 2001, around 17 universities and colleges, such as the Taipei Physcal Education College, continued to train outstanding athletes, including 59 sports teams, 93 coaches, and 695 athletes.
Aboriginal AthletesWithout a doubt, the most famous athlete in ROC history is Yang Chuan-kwang 楊傳廣. Yang, of the Ami indigenous tribe, won the silver medal in the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. In recognition of his achievement and that of the Ami team from Taitung County 臺東縣, which won the ROC's first World Little League Baseball Championship, the ROC Sports Federation organizes special programs to help cultivate the talents of aboriginal athletes. One of these programs, supported by the Chinese Taipei Amateur Baseball Association 中華民國棒球協會, is the Pacific League, which started in 1993. With the participation of aboriginal professional baseball players, the Pacific League organizes baseball games and clinics for children in Ilan, Hualien, and Taitung Counties.The 2001 Aboriginal Sports Meet was held in Pingtung County between March 22 and March 24. The items of competition included track and field, marathon, eight-people tug-of-war, boxing, traditional dance, traditional archery, traditional wrestling, a race performed while carrying a heavy load on the back, table tennis, and judo. About 96 people broke records on 30 events. Pingtung County won the championship. The 2003 Aboriginal Sports Meet will be held in Miaoli County. In addition, 23 aboriginal organizations, such as the Tali Bay Sustainable Development Association, held 27 sports activities for the indigenous people.
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