In two days’ time, the 29th Summer World University Games will open in Taipei. It will be the highest-level international sporting competition ever staged in Taiwan.
More than 100 young British athletes will form the core of the Great Britain delegation and compete in 11 sports. Team GBR will be here to do the best they can, and to make the Games a success.
This should be an incredibly exciting experience, not only for the athletes, but also for Taiwanese who can enjoy the festive atmosphere of the next two weeks. The British know how it feels. When London hosted the Summer Olympic Games and Paralympics Games in 2012, it was an amazing experience which none of us will ever forget.
The World University Games will give us spectacle and excitement, an opportunity for admiration and celebration. However, sports gatherings like this also give us deeper lessons for our societies.
First, they bring people together from all corners of the globe. They give people from different cultures the chance to interact and understand each other better. That interaction is transmitted on screens around the world. When we see our heroes interacting with their sports rivals with generosity and friendship, that chips away at prejudice and suspicion.
Second, these events do not discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, gender or sexuality. The Paralympics are fantastic opportunities to show that disability is not a bar to excellence. Participating in this standard of competition comes down to talent and a huge measure of hard work and determination.
Which brings me to the third reason that sport is great. It shows us that, in order to succeed at this level, we need to put in effort — most likely years of effort. In fact, no matter what level of sport you take part in, whether world-class competition or just exercizing with friends, sport teaches you that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. This is a particularly valuable message against social pressures to achieve instant fame for minimum effort.
So sport can play a key role in our societies, breaking down barriers between us, transmitting values of inclusion, fair play and teamwork, and building our people’s sense of self-worth.
Sport can also spur our economic development. The London Olympics and Paralympics left a legacy of world-class venues, community housing and much improved transport links for the disadvantaged east of London.
I hope that the residents of Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan will similarly benefit from the legacy of the World University Games, for example enjoying the facilities created by British companies at the swimming and tennis venues.
More sports facilities and more popular enthusiasm for sport also brings the benefit of healthier societies. This in turn reduces pressure on the universal healthcare systems, which are such a social asset in both Taiwan and the UK.
Many Taiwanese are health-conscious and active — something which strikes me every time I walk through one of your city’s lovely parks, and every time I cycle on my Taiwan-bought bicycle along the banks of the Keelung River. However, maintaining high levels of participation in sport in our societies needs encouragement and investment.
So I would like to wish the Summer World University Games in Taipei great success — a success not only measured in the number of medals won and records broken, but also in the people enthused into participating in and promoting sport in their local communities, and in the people who take to heart the values which good sport embodies.
Catherine Nettleton is the British representative to Taiwan.
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