PARALYMPICS/Taiwanese javelin thrower, paddler carry flag for Taiwan at Paralympics

Paris, Aug. 28 (CNA) Taiwanese javelin thrower Liu Ya-ting (劉雅婷) and table tennis player Chen Po-yen (陳柏諺) carried the flag for Team Taiwan, which is competing under the name "Chinese Taipei," during the Summer Paralympics opening ceremony held in Paris on Wednesday.

They were joined by 10 other athletes, including 48-year-old table tennis veteran Cheng Ming-chih (程銘志), who is making his third appearance at the Paralympic Games after Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021 - which was postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liu, competing in the women's javelin, told CNA she was excited about participating in the opening ceremony as a flagbearer with 17-year-old paddler Chen, the youngest on the team.

Team Taiwan has 13 athletes in seven disciplines -- badminton, judo, table tennis, powerlifting, athletics, archery and taekwondo.

The athletes took to the ceremonial stage, held at the Place de la Concorde, after Syria.

More than 5,000 athletes from 168 countries participated in the opening event which had around 50,000 cheering spectators.

During its live broadcast, the host of the French public national television channel France 2 described the flag carried by Taiwanese athletes as "Chinese Taipei, but it is Taiwan."

On Thursday, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) voiced his support for the Taiwanese athletes in Paris, saying "Taiwan is proud of you all."

On his Facebook page, Lai urged people to cheer for the Taiwanese Paralympic heroes and said he has faith the athletes would give it their all.

The 2024 Summer Paralympics will run until Sept. 8.