Legacy is an important issue when assessing the sustainable values of hosting a multi-sports event such as The World Games. The city of Kaohsiung (Chinese Taipei), host of TWG 2009, provides an example of how to make the best of it in a remarkable way. When visiting the port city with more than 2.7 million residents, IWGA CEO Joachim Gossow and Honorary Life President Ron Froehlich found many landmarks commemorating the days from 16 to 26 July 2009. And they also discovered that the logo of The World Games 2009 has become the official flag of the city itself.
Mayor Chen Chu explains why the second biggest city of the country decided to make use of The World Games logo in this way: “The success of the 2009 World Games is a proud historic mark for Kaohsiung City, that’s why we decided to use the logo. It represents our city: we are the city of sunshine, ocean and happiness.”
IWGA CEO Joachim Gossow said he was highly delighted when learning about this special legacy of the 2009 event: “We are honoured, of course, that the city has upgraded its flag in this way and we appreciate this idea. It shows to me that being host of The World Games can boost the self-esteem of a city. The impact of experiencing the competitions, the cultural events complementing the sporting activities, and the way that athletes and guests responded to the hospitality, lasts longer than just the eleven days the show runs. Kaohsiung considers itself to be a meeting place. The World Games 2009 proved that in an impressive way.”
In 2009 more than 3,000 participants from 84 countries celebrated the diversity of sports and the outstanding hospitality of the people in Kaohsiung.