Taiwan’s athletes attend the opening ceremony of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games
The Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games officially opened on January 19, 2024. The Taiwan delegation appoited Tai Wei-chen, a young women's luger, and Wu Kai-zhen, the captain of the men's ice hockey team, as flag bearers at the opening ceremony. Fang Jui-wen, Deputy Director-General of the Sports Administration (SA), Liang Kuang-chung, the representative of the Taipei mission in South Korea, Lin Hong-Dow, president of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee and head of the delegation, chefs de mission Ho Jow-fei, and others were all present to join the ceremony. A total of 19 athletes from Taiwan have qualified for four sports including ice hockey, skating, luge and skiing. After the opening ceremony, the 14-day schedule will officially begin. On the first day of competition, women's luger Dai and the men's ice hockey teams will be the first to compete.
Athletes at the opening ceremony first entered the venue and took their seats on both sides of the main stage. Only the flag bearers walked around the venue. Following the usual practice, Greece, the place where the Olympic Games originated, entered first, and the host South Korea entered as the finale, with the other participating teams entering according to the Korean alphabet, and two or three teams entered the venue at a time. Taiwan's delegation entered in 66th position out of the 78 participating countries and regions.
The Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic venues are mostly repurposed venues from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. The main theme of the opening ceremony performance closely followed the games slogan "Grow together, shine forever", emphasizing the unlimited potential and hope of young people, and their potential to become dazzling stars in the universe. The opening ceremony performers were mostly young dance groups, as well as South Korean pop music newcomers and groups. The torch of the games is a digital torch and was presented in digital electronic form, emphasizing the concept of environmental protection and sustainability.
The SA stated that this Winter Youth Olympics is divided into two major competition areas, the coastal competition area and the mountain competition area. The opening ceremonies were also held simultaneously at Gangneung Stadium and Yongpyong Dome. More than 1,800 young athletes from 78 countries and regions will participate in 7 different sports events in two weeks, competing and engaging in cultural exchange. Our young athletes will try their best to achieve good results and leave no regrets at the Winter Youth Olympics, in which they may take part only once in their lives.
