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Case Study: TPE
Our efforts in the promotion of sports such as bowling, karate, snooker and others are no different from those promoting the Olympic sports.
Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, IOC Member for Chinese Taipei, President of the International Boxing Association - AIBA
Sporting Excellence
In the past, sports in Taiwan were largely the province of the educational system. In order to cope with an increasing number of international sporting events and the need to train world-class athletes, this concept was changed in 1997 with the establishment of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which was renamed the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) in 2007. The cabinet-level SAC plans and implements the national government’s sports-related policies, focusing on two major goals: improving the physical fitness of the people and preparing top athletes for international competition.
When it comes to the latter, SAC grants subsidies to national sports federations – varying in amount according to their status in Taiwanese society as well as to their prospects for medals in international competition – and provides solid infrastructure with the National Training Centre. Baseball received the most SAC funding between 2004 and 2008. Although it is no longer on the Olympic Programme, it continues to be the nation's sport of preference. Several Olympic sports - such as taekwondo and archery - have been identified as "soft" medal targets by SAC and receive substantial support as well. Chinese Taipei's first ever Olympic gold medals were won in 2004 Athens - in taekwondo. Among the recognised sports, billiards, golf and in-line skating are topping the list in terms of popularity and backing. Even if certain distinctions are made between Olympic sports and the others, they all seem to benefit from the SAC strategy to project a modern and dynamic Taiwan through sporting excellence.
The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC) is the only organisation authorised to administer and field nationally representative delegations at the Olympic Games, the Asian Games as well as the other international sports competitions recognised by the International Olympic Committee. Aside from the national federations governing Olympic sports, all federations for recognised sports are affiliated to the CTOC too.
In fact, it was in recognised sports in which a Chinese Taipei delegation excelled the most in recent years. At The World Games 2009, which were held in Kaohsiung, TPE, the athletes exceeded even the highest expectations with a haul of eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze medals, placing seventh in the final medal table by nations.
Case study text authored by ARISF!
Read an extensive article on sports in Taiwan in the International Journal of Sport Policy!