Taipei torch relay continues along southern shores

HENGCHUNG, CHINESE TAIPEI – The Universiade torch relay continued its journey from Torino to Taipei City, with its most recent stops coming along the country’s southern shores.

On Tuesday, the torch made its way to the Luyi Highlands, the home of hot air ballooning. The torch hopped inside a hot air balloon and reached great heights above the highlands.

The flame soared in this hot air balloon imprinted with the Orchid Bouquet, the symbol of the city of Taitung.

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It was not difficult to envision the flight of the flame as a symbol of athletes striving for excellence and going beyond their self-imposed limits in the competition arena.

Fittingly, the Universiade and Olympic medal winning weightlifting star Hsing-Chun Kuo carried the torch to the day’s successful end into the city of Taitung.

From Taitung, the torch relay headed further south into Chinese Taipei. The flame made its way through the historic Hengchun Old Town which included a cultural heritage programme that featured the distinctive local culture like the moon guitar, a 3^rd century instrument that is a precursor to the modern hollow-bodied guitar.

 Pingtung County’s fourth and last torchbearer, Swimming athlete Yan-Ni Li, passing through the south gate of Hengchun Old Town

The four torchbearers carrying the flame on the day all came with notable competitive sporting roots.

The first torchbearer, Wei-Xu Wang, won a gold medal and broke the record in the 400-meter track event at the 2013 Universiade.. Wang handed the torch to Yun-Ling Zhong, a gold medalist at the 2014 Asian Youth Weightlifting Championship.

Chen-Ting Liao, champion in the men’s 21-year-old category in the International Table Tennis Federation World Tour Finals in 2016 had the penultimate run with the torch before igniting the torch of Yan-Ni Li, a gold medalist in the 400 meters freestyle swimming at the 2017 National Intercollegiate Athletic Games.

The torch relay’s route through Chinese Taipei consists of four stages, each for a letter of love. These two legs started “V” stage. Tomorrow, the relay heads along the country’s southwestern coast to Kaohsiung.