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The 2009 World Games () the eighth edition of the
World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
, were an international
multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
held in
Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
(under the name
Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by the ...
) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
. Nearly 6,000 athletes, officials, coaches, referees and others from 101 countries participated in the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, setting a record high for the multi-sport competition. The
International World Games Association The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World Ga ...
(IWGA) President Ron Froehlich praised the July 16–26 games as the "best games ever."


Emblem

The design of the emblem for The World Games 2009 is based on the first
Chinese character Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
in the city's name. The character " kao" (高) means high or superior in English. The toponym stylized as a multicolored ribbon aims to create an atmosphere of festivity and celebration. The warm colors, orange and magenta, at the top and green and blue at the bottom symbolize the sun rising over the ocean and mirror
Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
well: a passionate city with plenty of sunshine – a vibrant metropolis by the sea.


Mascots

Gao Mei (高妹) and Syong Ge (雄哥) are named after the host city, Kaohsiung (according to
Tongyong Pinyin Tongyong Pinyin () was the official romanization of Mandarin in Taiwan between 2002 and 2008. The system was unofficially used between 2000 and 2002, when a new romanization system for Taiwan was being evaluated for adoption. Taiwan's Ministry ...
). They are intended to personify it as "a city of the sea and the sun", to emphasize "ecology and environmental protection", and to symbolize the "friendliness and hospitality" of the city's residents.


Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony, on July 16, was held in the Main Stadium, and involved 4,000 performers. It was designed to provide "a platform for the world to understand Taiwan better", and focused on music, dancing and depictions of
Taiwanese culture The culture of Taiwan is a blend of Confucian Chinese and indigenous Taiwanese cultures. Despite the overwhelming traditional Chinese influence, Japanese culture has influenced Taiwanese culture as well. The common socio-political experience i ...
, including its aboriginal culture. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 100 million people worldwide. Among the foreign dignitaries in attendance was the
President of Nauru The president of Nauru is elected by Parliament from among its members, and is both the head of state and the head of government of Nauru. Nauru's unicameral Parliament has 19 members, with an electoral term of 3 years. Political parties onl ...
,
Marcus Stephen Marcus Ajemada Stephen (born 1 October 1969) is a Nauruan politician and former sportsperson who previously was a member of the Cabinet of Nauru, and who served as President of Nauru from December 2007 to November 2011. The son of Nauruan par ...
, one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies and himself a former athlete, having won seven gold medals in
weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...
at the
Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...
. Although
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
had sent athletes to compete, they were absent from the opening ceremony, reportedly due to Ma Ying-jeou inaugurating the Games in his capacity as the
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
.


News Conference

Kaohsiung Mayor
Chen Chu Chen Chu or Kiku Chen (; born 10 June 1950) is the current President of the Control Yuan and Chair of the National Human Rights Commission. Before assuming her current post, Chen had served as Secretary-General to the President from 2018 to ...
said the city has shown "soft" power in staging The World Games that concluded and praised
Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
residents for their passion in participating in the event. The mayor spoke at a news conference held after the closing ceremony during which
International World Games Association The International World Games Association, abbreviated as IWGA, is an international association, recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, the multi-sport event called The World Ga ...
(IWGA) President Ron Froehlich praised the July 16–26 games as the "best games ever." Chen noted that after the city was awarded the right to host the Games in 2005, it was determined to make it a success, and she said the city showed "confidence and competence" in staging the first international sports event held in Taiwan after "numerous daunting coordination challenges." She also praised the maturity of
Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
residents, saying that their enthusiastic participation and passionate cheering for athletes from every country was "touching." Revenues from ticket sales at The World Games have been initially estimated at NT$65 million. Chen noted Froehlich's praise of Kaohsiung, which she said has displayed friendship, cooperation and community participation, and offered her best wishes to
Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
,
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, which will host the next World Games in 2013. She said Kaohsiung is an open, rich and pluralistic city that respects
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and tolerates different views and political stances as long as they are expressed in a peaceful manners. Concerning the absence of the athletes from
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, which was reported to be a boycott, from the opening and closing ceremonies of The World Games, she said that as a big country, she expected it to show more grace and tolerance.


Participants

* (1) * (28) * (1) * (168) * (51) * (11) * (1) * (25) * (73) * (6) * (5) * (77) * (2) * (23) * (141) * (27) * (148) * (30) * (3) * (45) * (2) * (1) * (51) * (25) * (8) * (10) * (46) * (4) * (16) * (16) * (32) * (220) * (1) * (230) * (15) * (7) * (51) * (92) * (10) * (12) * (11) * (1) * (17) * (14) * (189) * (282) * (19) * (1) * (79) * (6) * (21) * (11) * (1) * (10) * (15) * (3) * (29) * (15) * (2) * (8) * (8) * (2) * (1) * (112) * (1) * (62) * (35) * (13) * (16) * (5) * (16) * (24) * (68) * (3) * (2) * (13) * (225) * (2) * (4) * (64) * (25) * (24) * (86) * (52) * (1) * (87) * (115) * (459) – Host * (1) * (52) * (6) * (22) * (155) * (3) * (204) * (211) * (1) * (3) * (7) * (36) * (23)


Sports


Official sports

The 2009 World Games programme featured 31 official sports, and 5 invitational sports. The numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events, which were contested in each sports discipline. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Invitational sports

* * * * *


Doping

On 16 September 2009, the IWGA announced that there had been several doping violations at the recently completed 2009 Games. On 26 October 2009, the IWGA Anti-Doping Panel decided on punitive measures against five medal-winners (four bodybuilders and a sumo athlete). The measures included the stripping of three gold and two silver medals, as well as lifetime bans from The World Games for three bodybuilders. The IWGA has made no announcement of reallocation of the forfeited bodybuilding medals. The International Sumo Federation reallocated the medals for the affected sumo event. In 2010, all medals in the sport of bodybuilding were removed from the medal table at the host organizer's website (''worldgames2009.tw'', "The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung"), which is now archived. However, all medals as first bestowed still appear at The World Games website (''theworldgames.org'') in both look-up and full result reports. The sport of bodybuilding has not appeared at a subsequent edition of The World Games.


Medal table


Official sports

The medal tally during the eighth
World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
is as follows.
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
finished at the top of the final medal table. Excluded are four bodybuilding medals forfeited for doping and not reallocated. In two events there were two bronze medals awarded because of ties for third-place: women's 100m finswimming and women's life saving combined relay.


Invitational sports


Calendar

In the following calendar for The World Games 2009, each blue box represents an event competition, such as a qualification round, on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held. Each bullet in these boxes is an event final, the number of bullets per box representing the number of finals that were contested on that day. On the left the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, and at the right how many gold medals were won in that sport. There is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader. As Invitational sport


Venues


See also

*
List of sporting events in Taiwan This is a list of international sporting events in Taiwan: Multi-sport Events Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball 1 The 2021 World Baseball Classic was originally scheduled for 2021, but has been rescheduled to 2023 due to the COVID-19 ...


References


External links

* * {{EventsAt2009WorldGames
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
Multi-sport events in Taiwan International sports competitions hosted by Taiwan
World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...
Sport in Kaohsiung Foreign affairs in Kaohsiung July 2009 sports events in Asia