The 8th World Games ended with an impressive closing ceremony held under the slogan ‘Galaxy of Lights‘ in a vibrant atmosphere. Mayor Chen Chu officially closed the Games in the sold-out stadium.

Triple Gold Medalist Yu-ting Huang passed the IWGA flag on to Mayor Chen. The Mayor then returned it to IWGA President Ron Froehlich, who handed the symbol of The World Games over to Pascual Guerrero. The President and Director of the Columbian Organizing Committee is representative of the next host city, Cali. Mr. Guerrero welcomed everyone to visit Cali in 2013.

More than 5,000 participants from 103 countries took part in The World Games 2009, which started on July 16. Throughout ten competition days 186 finals in 31 sports which were on the program took place. More than 280,000 spectators watched the opening and closing ceremonies, and the sports at the 23 venues. More than 1.2 million people celebrated the Games at the World Games Plaza.

In his closing speech, Ron Froehlich said: “All of us are grateful for the support of all the citizens of Kaohsiung. We have all enjoyed the events and the true sportsmanship we witnessed between the athletes. Top Sports and High Spirits with Fair Play was without doubt the order of the day.”

Froehlich paid tribute to the more than 6,000 Volunteers, who with their enthusiasm and friendliness gave these Games its shining face.

The President of the Organizing Committee Chu Chen thanked the people of her country, particularly the fellow citizens of Kaohsiung, for their “participations and tireless support.”

After all the athletes, the volunteers who contributed to the success of the Games paraded into the stadium.

A concert by the artist Wu Bai and China Blue, and a firework, which could still be seen far away, eventually closed The 8th World Games in Kaohsiung.