Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) suited up to compete at the World Masters Games yesterday, while participants continued to complain of organization issues, media said yesterday.
Chiang had a good run in recreational squash, winning two matches on Wednesday in the 40+ singles, but bowed out yesterday when his opponent beat him 3-1.
Hou played in recreational table tennis in the 60+ singles, but was eliminated in the preliminary round, with one win and two losses. The win was due to his opponent failing to show up.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, management issues continued to plague the Games, with competitors complaining about the venues and facilities, schedule confusions, missing their events and erroneous information from officials. Some people participating in the orienteering competition yesterday posted on social media that before the event, competitors had to squat and crawl on the ground to find their map.
“We were at the check-in location to receive materials and get ready, then 10 minutes before we were to collect the orienteering map, the officials just dumped everything on the ground. Competitors had to scramble to search for the map with their assigned number,” one participant wrote, attaching photos.
“It was awful to see, like a group of athletes picking through trash. There were more than 500 maps, and you had no idea which one has your assigned number. Anything is better than just throwing everything on the ground for people to search through,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
Triathlon participants also complained, saying that officials had changed the check-in times on its Web site, but participants had already received their kits through the mail, which had different schedules.
The sprint distance triathlon is to take place tomorrow and the full race on Sunday in Dongshan Township (冬山) in Yilan County, so most competitors had to arrange transportation to arrive in time for the check-in, one person said.
“For the Saturday race, we had to arrive on Friday. According to the kit we received, the latest time for check-in was 8pm, during which you were to collect the patch with your assigned number, a chip to monitor your time and a swimming cap. However, we had no idea that the cut-off time had been changed to 6pm,” he wrote.
Photo: CNA
“The race time for Saturday had also been changed. If people do not check the Web site, they would not be able to take part in the competition,” he added.
Foreign competitors have also complained about a lack of interpreters, with organizers saying that they are short on volunteers who can speak foreign languages, which has led to some being unable to participate in their events, social media posts showed.
Many participants also said there was a lack in updated information and long delays.
Some said when they arrived at venues, they had to wait for a very long time, as officials were still working through the check-in procedures.
Others said that although they already underwent the check-in process and were dressed for their competitions, they had to wait many hours, with some people not being able to compete at all.
Checks found that problems with the sound system and likely erroneous name pronunciation were the reasons that some athletes missed their call.
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