2009 жылғы Тайвань Каосиуңда өткен Әлемдік ойындар

Multi sport event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The 2009 World Games the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games. Nearly 6,000 athletes, officials, coaches, referees and others from 101 countries participated in the 2009 Kaohsiung World Games, setting a record high for the multi sport competition. The International World Games Association (IWGA) President Ron Froehlich praised the July 16–26 games as the "best games ever."

The design of the emblem for The World Games 2009 is based on the first Chinese character in the city's name. The character " kao" (高) means high or superior in English. The toponym stylized as a multicolored ribbon aims to create an atmosphere of festivity and celebration. The warm colors, orange and magenta, at the top and green and blue at the bottom symbolize the sun rising over the ocean and mirror Kaohsiung well: a passionate city with plenty of sunshine – a vibrant metropolis by the sea.

Gao Mei (高妹) and Syong Ge (雄哥) are named after the host city, Kaohsiung (according to Tongyong Pinyin). They are intended to personify it as "a city of the sea and the sun", to emphasize "ecology and environmental protection", and to symbolize the "friendliness and hospitality" of the city's residents.

The opening ceremony, on July 16, was held in the Main Stadium, and involved 4,000 performers. It was designed to provide "a platform for the world to understand Taiwan better", and focused on music, dancing and depictions of Taiwanese culture, including its aboriginal culture. The ceremony was watched by an estimated 100 million people worldwide. Among the foreign dignitaries in attendance was the President of Nauru, Marcus Stephen, one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies and himself a former athlete, having won seven gold medals in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. Although China had sent athletes to compete, they were absent from the opening ceremony, reportedly due to Ma Ying jeou inaugurating the Games in his capacity as the head of state.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said the city has shown "soft" power in staging The World Games that concluded and praised Kaohsiung residents for their passion in participating in the event. The mayor spoke at a news conference held after the closing ceremony during which International World Games Association (IWGA) President Ron Froehlich praised the July 16–26 games as the "best games ever." The IWGA has made no announcement of reallocation of the forfeited bodybuilding medals. The International Sumo Federation reallocated the medals for the affected sumo event. In 2010, all medals in the sport of bodybuilding were removed from the medal table at the host organizer's website (worldgames2009. tw, "The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung"), which is now archived. However, all medals as first bestowed still appear at The World Games website (theworldgames. org) in both look up and full result reports. The sport of bodybuilding has not appeared at a subsequent edition of The World Games.