TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei and New Taipei will host the 11th World Masters Games in 2025 after they won a bid against two other international cities.

After competing against Paris, France, and Perth, Australia for the rights to host, the two northern Taiwan cities have come out on top and won the favor of the Switzerland-based International Masters Games Association (IMGA) Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 21). This will be the first global sporting event held in Taiwan since the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade.

According to Radio Taiwan International, Taipei Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun (蔡炳坤) and New Taipei Deputy Mayor Hsieh Cheng-ta (謝政達) presented a joint proposal to the assessment committee of the Games on Wednesday and painted the cities' vision of how the event would be carried out. They also answered several questions regarding competition venues, event organization, financing, and security.

The Taipei City Government said this was the first time it filed a joint bid to host an international sporting event with New Taipei. It said IMGA Secretary-General Jens V. Holm, who visited the twin cities last week, also voiced his support during the assessment committee's discussion.

The city government said Taipei and New Taipei have been preparing for the World Masters Games 2025 since they submitted their proposal last year. It said more than 30,000 athletes from 110 countries are expected to compete in 32 sports at the 14-day event, creating a potential tourism boom for Taiwan, reported UDN.

The World Masters Games are a multisport event held every four years for athletes over the age of 30. Since the participants compete as individuals instead of for their home countries, there are no national delegations.

Taipei and New Taipei set to host World Masters Games in 2025. (Taipei City Government photo)