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Third bi-annual disabled games start this weekend

During a press conference yesterday, officials from the Hsinchu city government and the National Council on Fitness and Sports announced the beginning of the third bi-annual Disabled Sports National Championships and urged disabled people from across the country to celebrate sports and physical fitness.

The championships will be held from Friday until Monday in Hsinchu city and will include fourteen different events, including judo and wheelchair tennis, bowling, archery and track. This year, there will be 2,701 athletes competing, more than in previous years, said event representatives.

"I hope that these events will let everyone look at disabled people in the same way they look at everyone else," said blind folk singer Hsiao Hwang-chi (蕭煌奇) at the press conference.

Hsiao, a judo practitioner himself, will be giving a musical performance at the championship's night carnival on Saturday.

The 28-year old Hsiao said that although he will not be competing in the championships this time around, he was proud to promote disabled fitness awareness.

"No one pays attention to the fact that there are excellent athletes in the handicapped world," he added.

Hsiao gained renown when he performed the national anthem at the May 20 presidential inauguration ceremony.

Shiang Chin-huo (項金火), Hsinchu Disabled Sports Development Alliance head, said that although he felt that disabled people exercised just as much as anyone else, facilities often presented a problem.

"For example, tennis courts are often not handicap-friendly. Parking lots are often too far away from the courts, or there may be steps leading up the courts. Locker rooms and bathrooms are also often a problem if you're in a wheelchair," he said.

Shiang, who is missing both of his legs and will be participating in the wheelchair tennis and bowling events, praised Hsinchu Mayor Lin Junq-tzer (林政則) for his efforts to make championship facilities handicap-friendly.

For this event, said city representatives, Hsinchu City spent an estimated NT$46 million on facility construction and event planning, with about NT$16 million of that amount coming from the National Council on Fitness and Sports.

To accommodate its participants, Hsinchu paid special attention to spectator and athlete facilities at pools and tracks.

Besides sports events, the championships will also feature a cheerleading presentation by Hsinchu's Kuan-fu High School and a night carnival at Hsinchu's Confucious Temple Plaza.
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