The 2009 World Games to be held in Kaohsiung will follow the norms of the Olympic Games in dealing with flags and anthems if China sends athletes to take part in the event, a spokesman for the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee said on Monday in New York.
Committee chief executive Chen I-heng (陳以亨) made the remarks at a news conference at the representative office in New York City, officially known as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office.
The committee organized the news conference in New York in the hopes of enhancing US awareness of the largest-ever sporting event to be held in Taiwan.
"We welcome Chinese athletes to join the event," Chen said.
If Chinese athletes win gold medals, he said, the Chinese national anthem will be played at the award presentation ceremony as is the practice at the Olympic Games.
If Chinese athletes win silver or bronze medals, he added, China's national flag will be hoisted at the presentation ceremony.
During the news conference, Ron Froehlich, president of the International World Games Association (IWGA), put a hat bearing the Kaohsiung World Games logo on the head of Wang Chien-ming (
Wang said he felt honored to be given the job to speak for the international sporting event.
"It offers me a one-of-a-kind experience in my life, " he added.
Froehlich said the IWGA -- the World Games' sponsoring organization -- welcomed Wang's pitch for the Kaohsiung World Games and said he hopes the sporting event would be held smoothly.
The US media presence fell short of initial expectations, but the presence of Wang to pitch for the Kaohsiung World Games marked a big success for the publicity drive.
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