2025 World Masters Games kick off with ceremony at Taipei Dome

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) The 2025 World Masters Games opened Saturday at the Taipei Dome with a ceremony featuring a series of dance and singing performances.

The celebratory activities kicked off with Para athletes entering the stage, followed by participants from over 100 countries joining the fanfare.

The opening ceremony was also joined by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜).

After the flag-raising ceremony and the athlete oath -- led by Taipei representative and former baseball player Chou Szu-chi (周思齊), New Taipei representative and former badminton player Lin Shuo (林說), and Paralympic representative Chang Wei-chieh (張維捷) -- five torchbearers from diverse fields took the stage to ignite the ceremonial flame.

The torchbearers included Olympic boxing gold medalist Lin Yu-Ting (林郁婷), Taiwanese baseball legend Peng Cheng-Min (彭政閔), Guinness World Record-holding oldest badminton player Lin You-mao (林友茂), award-winning actress Sylvia Chang (張艾嘉), and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳).

The World Masters Games are open to individuals rather than national teams. As a result, national flags are not permitted in official areas such as competition venues or medal ceremonies.

Some national flags, including those of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Brazil, Singapore, India, South Africa, Mexico, Japan and Mongolia, were seen being held by athletes entering the indoor stadium during the ceremony.

According to the organizers, more than 25,000 athletes from 107 countries aged 30 and above, including over 2,000 participants aged 65 or older, are taking part in this year's the event.

The 2025 multisport event in Taipei and New Taipei is being held until May 30.