At the welcome-home banquet for the ROC (Taiwan) national team following its excellent performance at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Premier Jiang Yi-huah commended the team members for their outstanding achievements in winning 51 medals: 10 gold, 18 silver and 23 bronze.
Jiang especially extended his appreciation to the athletes and coaches for their efforts and encouraged them to keep up the good work to garner even better results at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
From the team's first gold (in weightlifting) to its 10th (in karate), the hearts of the public were with the athletes and coaches, said Jiang, adding that he was pleased to see their training and hard work bore fruit.
The premier especially extended his gratitude to weightlifting coach Tsai Wen-yee, whose two trainees not only garnered gold but also broke world records. In order to show the nation's acknowledgement of elite athletes and the importance of sports, the government even changed its incentive rules in response to their achievements. Starting with this Asian Games, any ROC athlete who breaks a world record in a major international competition will receive an NT$1 million (about US$33,000) bonus on top of other stipulated monetary rewards for outstanding performance.
"The importance of sports to a nation is indubitable," stated the premier. He said he himself enjoys watching and playing sports, and noted the Executive Yuan has even formed a seniors' baseball team that has had a great time playing with well-known local little league baseball teams in the past.
Yesterday, Jiang attended the opening ceremony of the Central Government Interagency Sports Competition. He was happy to see so many government employees habitually exercise and said he expects them to continue promoting the sporting spirit.
Taiwanese athletes' achievements in major international competitions will help galvanize this spirit in the country, the premier said at tonight's event. He encouraged the public to foster the habit of exercising and the nation's athletes to keep working for better results.