Chinese Taipei NOC organises Road Running Sustainability Forum
The Taiwan Road Running Sustainability Forum organised by the Sports and Environment Committee of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee in conjunction with National Tsing-Hua University, National Cheng Kung University and the road running community was held in Taichung Taiwan, on 30 August.
The forum has been initiated by the Taiwan road running community since 2021. As the issue of climate change continues to gain attention, this year’s registration is more than ever, with seats filled in less than a week.
Wang Shuli, a well-known weather anchor of Taiwan, participated in the forum as a member of the Sports and Environment Committee of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. She mentioned her recent interview with Chinese Taipei Olympic gold medalists Lin Yuting (Boxing) and Lee Yang (Badminton) on the environmental sustainability of the Paris Olympics. The athletes understand that environmental sustainability is a key issue affecting global development. Lee Yang said that the hot weather causes trouble for the training of athletes, it is not easy to train for a long time, and easier to get dehydration, therefore it is necessary to consider the impact of the weather in training management.
Experts from other countries were also invited to this forum, including Alexandra Criscuolo of the New York Road Runners, and Claire Poole, founder of Sport Positive. Alexandra Criscuolo, director of the New York Road Runners, shared her environmental sustainability efforts at the New York City Marathon, which she has been planning and measuring since 2019 to collect all the details of the event to assess carbon emissions more comprehensively.
They also conducted analysis, which focused on understanding the importance and impact of environmental sustainability issues among stakeholders and concluded with a commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. Claire Poole, founder of Sport Positive in United Kingdom, mentioned the four major challenges of sports sustainability, including the adequacy of funding, the administrative capacity of the organization, the professionalism of members and the priority of sustainability work.