It was a game of two halves for Taiwan in sports this past year.
Not much went on in the first six months, but with the Taipei International Marathon, Baseball World Cup and AFC Women's (soccer) Championship, sports briefly hogged the limelight late in the year.
With the spotlight came the politicians, who belatedly discovered sports as a force in Taiwan's perennial struggle with China for international recognition.
The link between politics and sports was underlined when Beijing snagged the right to host the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.
Interestingly, Taiwan supported Beijing's bid for the Olympics, with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) giving tacit support and Taiwan's International Olympics Committee member Wu Ching-kuo (吳經國) openly coming out in favor of Beijing before the vote on July 13.
There had been talk of Taiwan holding events with China -- based on the model of cooperation fostered by North and South Korea when they shared the stage at the Sydney Olympics -- but this was not to be.
After the Games were awarded to the Chinese capital, Wu returned to Taiwan with the news that there was "little possibility" of such a joint venture. Instead, Taiwan may be involved with the torch relay and US$12.5 billion worth of infrastructure projects.
Domestically, sports were suffering from years of neglect and the legacy of match-fixing scandals in baseball.
Taiwan had once again failed to bring home a gold medal the previous year at the Sydney Olympics and a couple of weightlifters were exposed as drug cheats.
The only good thing to come out of the experience was increased financial inducements from the government for successful athletes.
Though Tienmu Stadium went up in time for the Baseball World Cup in October, plans for a national stadium were nearly scotched.
The Taipei City government's Bureau of Cultural Affairs wanted to develop the Sungshan tobacco factory site in Taipei -- which had been earmarked for an "egg-shaped" stadium -- into a cultural heritage center.
The Cabinet determined that a site of historic importance and a domed stadium could not "co-exist" and the idea was shelved.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
In October, a shudder went through domestic basketball when a professional team from Taiwan moved across the Taiwan Strait to Suzhou.
Technically, this was against the rules, but the Mainland Affairs Council caved in and accepted the conclusion of the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports that Taiwan sports were just not strong enough without China.
"Considering Taiwan doesn't have many professional sports leagues, we have decided to allow Taiwanese athletes to develop their careers in China," Chen Min-tong (
Though Taiwan's mainstream sports were under siege, there was a burgeoning alternative sports scene.
In March, Taiwan hosted the Action Asia Challenge for the first time. It involved over 200 competitors in a rugged cross-country course involving climbing.
The activity was a big success and was beamed around the globe on Star TV. Adventure racing was on the map in Taiwan.
Street sports were also hot in Taiwan and ESPN sports TV channel teamed up with local sponsors to put on an Extreme Sports regional final in September.
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