Two-time Paralympics javelin gold medal winner and world record holder, visually impaired athlete Chiang Chih-chung (江志忠), has been barred from defending his title at this year’s Paralympic Games.
Chinese Taipei Paralympic Committee (CTPC) president Linda Chen (陳李綢) said possible interference from the Chinese Olympic Committee for political reasons may have been behind the announcement.
Chiang won gold medals in the F13 Men’s Javelin at the Sydney and Athens Paralympics, setting a world record in Athens with a throw of 57.28m. He also won the gold medal at the four-yearly International Sports World Games in Brazil last year.
In February this year, the CTPC received a letter from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) informing them that, although Chiang met the minimum conditions for participation, he had not been accredited for the Games. No reason was given.
Aside from Chiang, 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships javelin gold medal winner Chen Ming-tsai (陳明財) has also been excluded from the Paralympics.
Linda Chen expressed disappointment and dismay.
“We have objected to the IPC and the Beijing Olympic Committee through various avenues, but received no clear reply and no other explanation is to be found,” Chen said.
At the meeting of the preparatory committee for the Beijing Olympics in May, Lai Fu-huan (賴復寰), a member of the CTPC’s standing committee, asked the IPC’s technical director and technical delegates on the athletics subcommittee about the matter, but to no avail.
“For the IPC to make such a decision, China must be interfering behind the scenes,” Lai said.
Chiang Chih-chung, although disappointed, has no choice but to accept the decision.
“My role is just to do my best as a competitor,” he said. “I don’t understand the changing rules of the game. Taiwan has all along been in a weak position and pushed around by China. The vision of singing our anthem in the stadium in Beijing is what has motivated me to keep training for the last couple of years.”
Sports Affairs Council Chairwoman Tai Shia-ling (戴遐齡) said there should be a standard procedure for deciding whether or not athletes can take part in sports events.
If China has blocked Chiang from the Games for no reason, then it might have political implications, but the matter needs investigation, she said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS