The 2023 National Games will be held in Tainan from October 21 to 26, 2023. The event’s first promotional video “It’s Tainan’s Turn”, which was released by Tainan City Government on June 8, features many local athletes as well as popular tourist destinations such as Anping Fort, Sicao Mangrove Green Tunnel, Luermen Tienhogong, and so on. Weightlifter Fang Wan-Ling who participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, decathlete Wang Chen-Yu, who holds the fourth-highest score in Taiwan, and men’s under-63 kg class gold medalist Hsu Hao-Yu at the Taekwondo Austrian Open in Innsbruck all appear in the video.
Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che pointed out that the city has been conducting site surveys at each competition venue and actively bidding for the rights to host the National Games since 2020. The city was finally awarded the 2023 National Games hosting rights last year. It has been 16 years since Tainan last hosted the Games and the city government team is now diligently getting ready to welcome over 10,000 athletes from 22 counties and cities to compete here next year.
Bureau of Education Director-general Cheng Hsin-hui explained that the National Games, which is held every other year, is currently the largest and highest-level comprehensive sports game in Taiwan. With Asian and Olympic Games disciplines as its main structure, this edition will have 31 disciplines. Last year the Ministry of Education’s Sports Administration passed an NTD 176.15 million budget for the renovation of 14 competition venues. The construction projects are expected to be completed between this year and the first half of next year.
Tainan City’s Department of Sports expressed that Tainan will interpret and present this highest-level national sports event in a brand-new way. The city invites sports lovers throughout Taiwan to take part in this grand event.