Taipei: The 2025 World Masters Games opened at the Taipei Dome with a ceremony featuring a series of dance and singing performances. The celebratory activities commenced with Para athletes entering the stage, followed by participants from over 100 countries joining the fanfare.

According to Focus Taiwan, the opening ceremony was attended by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih. The event included a flag-raising ceremony and an athlete oath led by Taipei representative and former baseball player Chou Szu-chi, New Taipei representative and former badminton player Lin Shuo, and Paralympic representative Chang Wei-chieh. Five torchbearers from diverse fields took the stage to ignite the ceremonial flame, including Olympic boxing gold medalist Lin Yu-Ting, Taiwanese baseball legend Peng Cheng-Min, Guinness World Record-holding oldest badminton player Lin You-mao, award-winning actress Sylvia Chang, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

The World Masters Games are open to individuals rather than national teams, which means that national flags are not permitted in official areas such as competition venues or medal ceremonies. Despite this, 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 event. The 2025 multisport event in Taipei and New Taipei is being held until May 30.