The World Games 2009 Kicks Off in July in Kaohsiung, Taiwan / 2009世界運動會 7月台灣高雄 精彩登場
The World Games 2009
Kicks Off in July in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
◎Text by Fu-Ju Lin Photos by Chia-Tse Kao and Chung-Hui Pao
Since October 2008, Kaohsiung City Government and Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) have been organizing a series of international events in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, in order to announce to the world that The World Games 2009 will take place in Kaohsiung during July 16 -26.
The first promotional event was held in Tokyo on March 5. The press conference was presided by Kaohsiung Mayor Chu Chen. Two special guests -Toyo Ito, designer of the Main Stadium and Watanabe Kunio, architectural consultant of Kaohsiung Arena -were invited to the event and explained the design concepts and characteristics of the Main Stadium and Kaohsiung Arena. Also present at the event were Japanese Pair Shunsuke Nagasaki and Masaki Ito who took the gold medal in the Men's Synchronized Trampoline in the Pre-Event series which took place at the end of last year. Together with the conference hosts and attendees, they applauded the great architectural achievements of the Main Stadium and Kaohsiung Arena and introduced spectacular sports games to the Japanese public and media.
Mayor Chen indicated that The World Games is the second most important international sports event next to the Olympic Games. More than 5,000 athletes from nearly 100 countries will compete in Kaohsiung this summer. Among the 31 sports, Sumo, Softball, and Gymnastics are most favored by Japanese people. Dance Sport and Rugby 7s are also popular sports games.
More promotional events have been planned. In March, KOC collaborated with the Malaysian International Open and held Mixed Pairs Exhibition Bowling Games. In April, the Kaohsiung World Games 9-Ball Pre-Event Series along with an international press conference held in Singapore.
Mayor Chen declared, "Kaohsiung is ready! People in Kaohsiung welcome friends from all over the world to enjoy the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung."
2009世界運動會
7月台灣高雄 精彩登場
◎文／王大衛
◎攝影／高嘉澤．鮑忠暉
為行銷2009高雄世運，高雄市政府和財團法人2009世界運動會組織委員會基金會(KOC)自去年10月起，陸續於中國香港、日本東京、馬來西亞吉隆坡、新加坡等地展開一連串的國際行銷活動，傳遞「2009世界運動會」將於７月16日至26日在台灣高雄精彩登場！
今年第一場行銷活動於３月５日在日本東京舉行，記者會由高雄市市長陳菊親自主持。記者會中特別邀請負責「2009世運主場館」建築設計的伊東豊雄先生，與擔任高雄市現代綜合體育館（高雄巨蛋）建築結構顧問的渡邊邦夫先生，於現場親自介紹「2009世運主場館」與「高雄巨蛋」的建築設計與特色。去年底參加世運體操暖身賽男子彈跳決賽摘金的日本好手長崎峻侑與伊藤正樹等人均親臨現場，共同分享2009世運主場館及高雄巨蛋雄偉壯闊的建築成就，同時也一起向日本媒體及民眾介紹高雄世運各項精彩賽事。
陳市長表示，世運是僅次於奧運的國際運動賽事，今年將有近百個國家、５千多位參賽人員齊聚高雄競技。在31項精彩比賽項目中，相撲、壘球、體操，均是日本朋友相當喜愛的項目，而運動舞蹈與7人制橄欖球也非常熱門。
其他場次的宣傳活動包括３月至馬來西亞吉隆坡的宣傳結合馬來西亞保齡球公開賽舉辦高雄世運盃混合雙人表演賽；４月至新加坡舉辦高雄世運９號球（撞球）前哨戰暨國際記者會。
陳市長說「高雄準備好了」！高雄市民熱情邀請全世界各地的好朋友到高雄觀賞2009世界運動會。