A team of 12 track and field athletes have been chosen for the games, a huge multi sports festival held every four years, featuring disciplines ranging from athletics to fencing, windsurfing, basketball, volleyball, and more.

In 2001, the Hong Kong men's 4x100m relay team of Chiang Wai-hung, To Wai-lok, Tang Hon-sing and Ho Kwan-lung won the silver medal in the ninth National Games in Guangzhou.

Six sprinters have been selected for this year's men's relay squad, including Chiang and To. Tang Hon-sing will concentrate on his main discipline of the 110m hurdles, while Leung Chun-wai, Lau Yu-leong and Yik-chun are new additions.

The 4x100m relay team set a new Hong Kong national record (39.77 seconds) in Chongqing earlier this year, and will be medal contenders in Nanjing.

The games will be the first of several major sports events being held in the region towards the end of this year.

Track and field athletes are also preparing for the East Asian Games in Macau, the Asian Athletic Championship in Korea, and also the Asian Games next year in Doha.

Yik-chun, an 18-year-old Form Five student at Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College in Tin Shui Wai, has established himself as the best sprinter in Hong Kong after beating national record holder, Chiang Wai-hung, in recent races.

The teenager is not only a formidable talent in the 100m. His best distance is the 200m, and he has shown a strong ability in the 400m as well.

Having finished his school exams, the gifted teenager - who owns the 100m junior record (10.44 seconds), and 200m senior record (20.94) said he would concentrate on training to improve his fitness and technique.

'I prefer the 200 metres,' said Yik-chun. 'I'm good at accelerating. The 100 metres is too short for that.'