'It was hard work tracking them down. There were a lot of telephone calls and e-mails involved and this would have been an impossible task in the pre-computer and pre-internet days,'' said Fenella. 'The list is 99 per cent complete. I have everyone since the 1960s, but before that it is a bit sketchy.''

Her problem was that she could not find who had represented Hong Kong at the 1952 Games in Helsinki - Hong Kong's first Olympics. Fenella knew there were four swimmers, but she couldn't get a handle on their names.

The one man who would know about it - former president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee A. de O. Sales - was mostly incommunicado, having cut down public appearances since stepping down from his position soon after the 1996 Olympics, a landmark Games for Hong Kong.

It was almost six years since we had last spoken to him, but Sales was gracious as ever. When he was told the reason for the telephone call, we could almost see Sales begin to smile.

'You need the names of the four athletes who first represented Hong Kong at the Olympics? Well they are ...,'' said Sales, rattling off their names immediately. At 84, he still is razor sharp.

Knowing he would be the only person to be able to give a full account, we asked Sales for a face-to-face interview, and he agreed. Early in July, we met for an hour at his offices in Prince's Building. Below are a few excerpts of significant moments in Hong Kong's Olympic history:

On how the Hong Kong Olympic Committee was formed: 'The old Victoria Recreation Club, which was a rowing club at Tamar, was the force behind the birth. The Commonwealth Games was being held in 1950 in Auckland and they got in touch with the VRC asking if Hong Kong could send a team. The Hong Kong Olympic Committee was formed in 1949 but it was only recognised in 1951. I was the honorary secretary of the VRC and I made an application to the IOC. Our application was supported by Sandy Duncan (an official with the British Olympic Committee) and we became members of the IOC in 1951.

'That year we were also asked by the organisers of the Asian Games in New Delhi to send a football team. Hong Kong's soccer team at the time were one of the strongest in Asia. But we never went to New Delhi. Our first major Games was the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. We were the only British colony at the Games. I was the head of the delegation and we only sent four swimmers because other sports were not as developed as swimming and not up to regional standards. Swimming had regular interport competition with Manila, Yokohama and Shanghai.'

On his confrontation with the Black September Group during the 1972 Munich massacre: 'I was not staying at the athletes' village. But when I heard about the crisis, I rushed there to find two Hong Kong officials were still inside the building. Hong Kong was staying on the floor above the Israeli team. I wanted to go in and get them out, but the German police did not want me to go in. But while my deputy Ramon Young engaged the police in conversation, I slipped past and walked across into the building. I came face to face with the leader of Black September. He must have wondered who I was as I was not wearing a Hong Kong blazer. I identified myself and told him that I had come to get some Hong Kong people who were still inside. He said 'I thought all the Hong Kong people had jumped out'.

'Most of them had climbed up on to the roof and jumped down, but two officials were left behind, one of whom had a weak heart. I told the Palestinian there were two left and that they were hiding. He accompanied me and we went and knocked on the doors. One of the Hong Kong officials was still in his underwear and I told him to hurry up and put his trousers on. When I walked out with them, I heard a great cheer from the crowd. I asked the Black September guy if he needed anything. But he said he had everything. It never occurred to me that I might be in danger. My mind was focused on getting the Hong Kong athletes out. It was very sad that it ended in a tragedy.' Eleven Israeli athletes were killed.

On windsurfer San San winning Hong Kong's first Olympic medal in 1996: 'Before Hong Kong left for the Games, Hang Seng Bank had a farewell reception and I said then that if Hong Kong ever had a chance of winning an Olympic medal, it would be Lee Lai-shan who would do it. She had it in her genes. When I heard she had won a gold medal, I was elated.'

On the Olympics: 'The saddest thing about the Olympics now is the security aspect. In Helsinki there was no security. Now they are spending more than US$1 billion on safeguarding the Olympics.''

Sales led Hong Kong delegations to 11 Olympics. Since he made way for Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, who took over as president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee in 1997, Hong Kong have taken part in one more Olympics, the Sydney Games in 2000.

In this time, Hong Kong have been represented by a total of 228 athletes (at the Moscow Games in 1980, during the American-led boycott, no athletes took part although Hong Kong were represented by an official). This number rises to 230 if you count Amy Chan and Chan Chi-choi, the badminton mixed doubles pair who took part at the Seoul Games when badminton was a demonstration sport.

Many of this number have taken part in more than one Olympics. For instance, shooter Peter Rull Snr, took part in five Olympics from 1960 to 1976, and holds the Hong Kong record for the most number of Games. Ho Kim-fai is the only athlete other than Fenella Ng to have taken part in two different sports - canoeing and rowing.

'The World Olympian Association encourages each National Olympic Committee to have its own association of past Olympians and I'm happy that Hong Kong also has formed its group,'' says Fenella.

More names will be added to this illustrious roster when the Athens Games get under way.

'I hope San San can win another medal for Hong Kong. That was a very proud moment for Hong Kong and I hope there are more like that,'' says Sales. What began in 1952 in Helsinki, goes on. It is Hong Kong's never-ending story.