International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) president Donalda Ammons yesterday praised Taipei’s Summer Deaflympics as the “best ever” in the Games’ 85-year history.
Ammons said she was impressed by the event in many ways, including its venues, its organization and efficiency, the setup of the programs and the volunteers.
She said organizers resolved any problems that arose quickly. The efficiency was “phenomenal,” she said, adding that past organizers had usually taken hours or even days to solve problems.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
There was an exceptional number of volunteers, who were ever smiling and ready to help.
Ammons also praised the high quality of the referees and said media coverage of the event was more than the Deaflympics had ever received.
Organizers were also meticulous about visual information at the event, presenting crucial information on big screens and score boards.
“As a deaf person, I felt like a first-class citizen,” she said.
ICSD vice president David Lanesman of Israel expressed similar gratitude for the care put into the event, saying it made him “feel like a human being.”
ICSD sports director Josef Willmerdinger of Germany said Taipei had a huge heart and that he had never experienced such warmth anywhere else.
“Taipei is the best,” he said.
Presenting Ammons with a key to the city and a certificate of honorary Taipei citizenship, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) thanked the ICSD president for her unwavering dedication and contributions to promoting human rights and sports for the deaf.
Taipei was also grateful for her help with organizing the Deaflympics, Hau said.
Hau gave Ammons a CD with photos, saying he hoped she would remember Taiwan, to which Ammons responded that she would never forget Taiwan, with or without photographs.
Hau also presented flowers and cash awards to Deaflympics athletes Ho Chiu-mei (何秋美), Ho Chiu-hsiang (何秋香) and An Ching-lung (安慶隆).
The Ho sisters won silver medals in women’s doubles tennis and An took home the bronze in the decathlon.
Describing the success of the Deaflympics as “the pride of Taiwan,” the mayor said the Ho sisters’ silver medals were more valuable than golds because they had brought the spirit of the Games and Taiwan into full play.
Ho Chiu-hsiang said although she was injured in the pair’s final match, she kept playing because she knew she would regret it the rest of her life if she gave up.
An said he was happy to improve his personal best performances at the Deaflympics.
He added that he hoped the government would invest more in helping young athletes develop and compete internationally.
He asked the government to help hearing-impaired athletes find jobs, to which Hau said it was the government’s duty to meet their needs, including with job opportunities and training.
The Taipei Deaflympics, which opened on Sept. 5 and closed yesterday, were the first held in Asia.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the