[New Taipei City News] The World Athletics has announced the 2023 New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon a gold label event a few days ago. Today (9), New Taipei City Mayor Hou You Ih, Chairman of the Athletics Association of Republic of China Ye Zheng Yan, and Secretary President Wang Jing Cheng jointly announced that the 2023 New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon will be the first and only “Gold Label event” in the country. In his speech, Mayor Hou expressed his gratitude to the Athletics Association of the Republic of China for its guidance and assistance, as well as the support of the citizens of New Taipei City, runners, and sponsors. On March 19 next year, the world will see Taiwan through TV broadcasts on three continents.

Furthermore, the Mayor said that the whole upgrading process of the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon from the bronze label, silver label to the gold label is not easy. It has overcome many difficulties, especially in 2021, while taking into account the epidemic prevention, only a few physical marathons in the world could be successfully held. Mayor Hou wanted to thank the Athletics Association of the Republic of China and sponsors such as Mizuno, Fubon Financial Holdings, and Pacific Construction for their long-time support to the city government team. Also, Mayor Hou especially wanted to thank the residents of the Wanli, Jinshan, and Shimen districts. As he said, this honor is belong to the citizens of New Taipei City, and it is also the pride of Taiwan.

The Mayor also mentioned that the 2023 New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon will implement environmental sustainability at the same time, and take practical actions to apply for the Responsible Sports Label, ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management System Certification, and ISO 14067 Product Carbon Footprint Certification, from event planning to the handling of subsequent disposals, trying to reduce the impacts on the society, economy, and environment. In terms of carbon reduction, in addition to using environmentally friendly and recyclable materials to make athletes’ running clothes, it will also be the first time to combine the athletes’ clothing protection bags with the New Taipei environmental protection dual-use bags to reduce one-time waste and create recycling value.

As Chairman Ye Zheng Yan of the Athletics Association of the Republic of China said, in 2023, there will be 230 label events currently announced by World Athletics, including 38 gold label events such as the well-known Osaka marathon and Houston marathon. With the 2023 New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon becomes a gold label event, it will definitely attract a lot more elite athletes at the Olympic level to participate, which will provide opportunities for the domestic runners to exchange ideas with international athletes and to improve the level of domestic marathon competition.

The Sports Office stated that the first and only “gold label event” in Taiwan, the 2023 Wan Jin Shi Marathon, will start in Wanli on March 19. Runners who are unable to participate are welcome to visit the official website to purchase event souvenirs designed by designer Peng Guan Jie, who has won the German iF Design Award. In addition, we would also like to invite everyone to participate in the “New Taipei Happy Christmas City Sports Party” on November 19th and 20th, 2022 at New Taipei City Civil Square. There are a variety of exhibition booths and various sports experiences on site. Also, New Taipei City sports stars will show up in the activities. For more information, please visit the official website of the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon, the Facebook Fan Page, and the New Taipei Sports Gathering Point Fan Page.