Taiwan achieved its best Paralympic performance in 20 years at this year's games in Paris, winning a total of five medals. To celebrate this accomplishment, the country hosted a welcome party for its Paralympic athletes at the presidential office.
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00:00A grand welcome for Taiwan's para-athletes who claimed five medals at the Paralympics
00:07in Paris this summer. Three silvers and two bronze, all in table tennis and taekwondo.
00:14This year's medal haul is the biggest Taiwan has won in two decades at the Games.
00:19President Lai Ching-de lauded the para-athletes' achievement.
00:22I would like to thank everyone for writing a glorious page for Taiwan at the Paralympics.
00:31Every one of you is a hero of Taiwan. The whole country is proud of you.
00:37This year, a total of 13 athletes represented Taiwan under the name Chinese Taipei,
00:43with almost half of them winning medals.
00:45Officials credit the extra support they got ahead of the 2024 Games.
00:50Starting in 2020, we have a plan to carry out the training.
00:54This is in line with our Olympic training plan.
01:00We have made it systematic and built a database.
01:08Along with professional training and detailed planning,
01:11for the first time ever, these para-athletes trained at the National Sports Training Centre
01:16in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.
01:18Previously, there was not enough capacity at the centre for para-athletes to train there.
01:23They gave us a lot of support and assistance in terms of nutrition, training and accommodation.
01:33They also helped us feel the difference in the operation of the wheelchair.
01:41Everyone came down to experience it with us,
01:44to see what problems we had and what adjustments we needed to make.
01:48Among all the sports Taiwan competed in,
01:51table tennis athletes stood out, with all of them earning at least one medal.
01:56The Chinese Taipei Paralympic Committee says
01:58the success reflects their early investment in the sport.
02:01This is the most complete project.
02:04Through this model, a lot of athletes came out.
02:09Although Taiwan won medals in only two sports,
02:12the country is committed to investing more resources across all disciplines for para-athletes.
02:18This includes improving access to facilities,
02:21providing greater support and promoting para-sports nationwide.
02:25Howard Zhang, Alex Chen and Danny Chee for Taiwan Plus.