2024 National Disabled Games in Nantou (113年全國身心障礙國民運動會) is set to take place in Nantou County from May 25th to 28th, whose flame lighting ceremony symbolizing the spirit of the games took place in front of the Taiwan Provincial Government Office of Chung Hsing New Village on the morning of April 30th. The torch was lit by Wang RuiDe, Deputy County Mayor, together with Lu HongJing, Chief Secretary of the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education, announcing the National Disabled Games is about to begin. The torch relay is set to start on May 2nd and the torch will be carried for 12 days to 15 special schools and units in north, central and south of Taiwan, conveying the atmosphere of "Enjoy Nantou, a livable city" and the spirit of sports equality.
The Torch was ignited in a technologically innovative way. In front of the building where the Taiwan Provincial Government Office located, a drone carrying the "small flame" of the Games traveled through time with the meaning of historical inheritance to light the torch of the 2024 National Disabled Games in Nantou. Afterwards, Deputy County Mayor Wang and Chief Secretary Lu presented the torch to 2 players belongs to the Nantou County representative team, which are Huang WeiJiun, Special Olympics roller skating player, and Tsai ChengEn, boccia player, respectively. And then, under the guidance of a convoy of vehicles, they will pass the torch to the torchbearer team of National Nantou Special School. With amazing Dragon Dance and Taiko Drumming performances, the Flame of 2024 National Disabled Games in Nantou is then lit.
Deputy County Mayor Wang pointed out that it is the first time for Nantou County to hold the National Disabled Games. Since the first RenAi Games (仁愛運動會) for athletes with disabilities in 1974 was hosted by the Department of Education at that time, the county government specially selected the Taiwan Provincial Government Office as the venue of the flame lighting ceremony for its historical inheritance significance. After the efforts of various host counties and cities over the time, it has grown to a large scale. 50 years later, Nantou County took on the mission for the first time in 2024 to continue the original intention and to keep spreading the spirit of the sports equality.
2024 National Disabled Games in Nantou is divided into competitive games and friendship events. The competitive games include the sports and events in the Paralympic Games, the Deaflympics, and the Asian Para Games, and have 16 sports namely, track and field, swimming, shooting, badminton, bowling, wheelchair tennis, table tennis, boccia, basketball, fitness, archery, Special Olympics bowling, Special Olympics badminton, Special Olympics bocce, Special Olympics roller skating, and Special Olympics basketball. The participants are limited to players with disabilities, such as physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, and visual impairments.