Sports as a national unifier
Respect lies at the heart of Olympic ideals, because without it there can be no coexistence. From that respect, friendship can grow, and the next step is the pursuit of excellence. The competition, embrace, and ultimate transcendence of differences that occur during athletic competitions are the embodiment of the Olympic spirit.
The media also plays a key role in cultivating interest and solidarity among the public, says Wu. If people are to have a spontaneous enthusiasm for sports, beyond the role of education in instilling a sporting ethos, the media needs to treat sports news as important in its own right, not just as secondary stories.
The 2000 Sydney Olympics, for example, was one of the most successful in Olympic history. Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC president at the time, couldn’t have been happier with its success. “Why? Because people didn’t need to be encouraged to watch the games; they just followed their passions and poured into the stands,” Wu says. He hopes that media coverage of athletic competitions in Taiwan will focus on the sport itself and not just political topics.
As for the government, whether at the national or the local level, there should be a single purpose—to highlight Taiwan’s strengths. Both the public and the government should seek to express this in thought and action.
The 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung was praised as one of the most successful in the event’s history. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)