The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung/迎接2009世界運動會
Kaohsiung will host the 8th World Games after many years of planning. It symbolizes the enormous progress that Taiwan has achieved in the field of sports.
The World Games Association has officially authorized Kaohsiung to host this great sports event in the year 2009 via a signatory ceremony, which was presented by Kaohsiung Mayor, Frank Chang-ting Hsieh; The chairman of the International World Games Association (IWGA), Ron Froehlich and the executive of IWGA, Co Koren also took part in the ceremony which was held at the plaza of Ocean Star.
"This is an honor for Kaohsiung, Taiwan to host the World Games 2009, which raise the recognition of Taiwan in the world stage as well as promote the image of the city on a global scale. It will also bring a healthier city because of sports", remarked Mayor Hsieh while delivering his speech during the ceremony.
The World Games, which are held every four years, are an international multi-sports event hosted by the International World Games Association (IWGA), under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The purpose of establishing the IWGA was to emphasize the significance of non-Olympic sports. It is expected that there will be about 3000 top athletes from more than 90 countries participating this great sports event.
Kaohsiung has thoroughly outlined its preparation for the World Games 2009. The accommodation facilities for athletes are situated in I-Shou University which will help to reduce the enormous costs. In addition to that, the city is going to build a new stadium from the former Lite Baseball Stadium and also Zuoying Activity Center is already available to be used as a second venue. As a result of this thorough preparation, Kaohsiung definitely seems capable of handling the demands associated with hosting the World Games 2009.
The Mayor also plans to organize a committee for the World Games 2009 by using the resources from private parties to train bilingual or multilingual speakers and the volunteers. Those preparations will equip the city to handle the global nature of this event and ensure that Kaohsiung initiates the internationalization of this island.
According to the IWGA, the host city can propose five demonstration sports as well as 33 official sports. The city of Kaohsiung has already chosen Gateball, Tchoukball and Dragon Boat Racing as three of its demonstration sports. The gymnasiums for the games will be located in Kaohsiung city, and it also plans to in using parts of resources in Kaohsiung and Pingtung Counties. Those three cities will work closely for this international sports event. The city government expects the Mass Rapid Transit and the light rail transit to be finished by the year 2007, or at the latest 2008 in order to cope with the needs for the games.
台灣除了經濟奇蹟之外，將進一步在國際體壇上寫下歷史新的一頁。高雄市歷經多年努力，終於爭取到第八屆「2009 WORLD GAMES世界運動會」主辦權。
六月十四日簽約儀式於海洋之星廣場舉辦，由高雄市長謝長廷、國際世界運動會委員會（IWGA）主席 Mr.Ron Froehlich、秘書長Mr.Co Koren共同進行簽約儀式，象徵高雄市籌辦此世界級運動會正式起跑。
謝市長致詞表示，這是台灣人民及高雄市民邁入國際社會，成為世界村村民的好機會，我們感到非常的驕傲及榮幸。世界運動會的舉辦，不僅可提升國內的競技水準，普及全民運動風氣，更可塑造城市的形象，增進城市觀光及運動產業，提高高雄市在國際的能見度，讓高雄市邁向國際舞台。
WORLD GAMES 世界運動會是全世界僅次於奧運的第二大國際運動盛會，是每四年舉辦一次的國際綜合性運動賽會，可謂「非奧運項目的奧運會」。世界運動會總會（IWGA）成立的目的，是除了非奧運項目個別的世界錦標賽外，再成立一非奧會之綜合性運動會，以凸顯非奧運的重要性，2009世運會預計有九十多個國家，三千多名頂尖選手薈萃競技。
高雄市在硬體設施上已做好準備，如選手村將設置在義守大學，以減低興建選手村所需要的龐大經費，此外高雄巨蛋即將於九月動工興建，原立德棒球場將改建，左訓中心及五項運動訓練場可作為現成使用場地，加上高雄縣運動場地的配合，世運會在硬體場地規劃上已大致完備。
市府也在市長指示下立即成立「2009世界運動會」籌備委員會，將善用民間資源，培養眾多的外語人才與志工，如此，也促使高雄儘速進入國際社會，以後台灣的國際化就要從高雄出發。高雄市也將依世運會規定，主辦城市可以在卅三個單項競賽外，再提出五種邀請性示範表演賽，目前選定槌球、巧固球、龍舟三項作示範賽。二○○九年世運會運動場館除以高雄市現有場館為主外，高雄縣與屏東縣也將提供部分場地供比賽，這將是一場集三縣市之力共同經營的國際體育活動。市府將訂定時間表規劃期程，將捷運工程、輕軌等大型建設於2007年或最晚2008年前完成，以因應世運會的舉行。