Fighting four hope for delay
The four sports ordered to shape up or face being axed from the elite programme at the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) in 2007 may have a second chance, thanks to the 2008 Olympic equestrian events being held in Hong Kong.
Athletics, tennis, triathlon and swimming are racing against time to achieve the required standards before the next review is held after the 2006 Asian Games.
However, HKSI Chairman Eric Li Ka-cheung has asked the government's Elite Sports Committee to delay the review until 2009.
In a letter to the committee, Li said the proposed 2007 relocation of HKSI facilities to accommodate equestrian events for the 2008 Olympics would severely disrupt training schedules.
As such, an earlier review would be unfair on sports facing the axe.
An official from the Sha Tin sports centre said: 'We think the request is well justified, considering the fact that athletes and coaches have already spent a large amount of their training time dealing with the recent incidents of the 2008 Olympic equestrian events. There is a list of endless meetings with different bodies and organisations and visits to various sites. As a result, athletes have spent less time in training and their preparation for major games has been affected. Why should they still go ahead with the review under such circumstances?
'We agree that the aim of the review is to raise the standard of elite sports in Hong Kong. We are not trying to avoid it, but only want to see it take place after the 2008 Olympic equestrian events. By then, we will be able to start the review cycle again without disruption from outside.'
Of the current 13 elite sports at the institute, athletics, triathlon, tennis and swimming are in danger of losing their status after failing to meet a set of tightened standards adopted by the committee in April. Others, including badminton, cycling, fencing, rowing, squash, table tennis, tenpin bowling, windsurfing and wushu have all achieved the benchmark score of nine points achieved by two senior and two junior athletes from each sport.
The four threatened sports have been placed on probation for two years.
Should they fail again in the next review, slated for early 2007 after the Doha Games, they would lose their elite status as well as their yearly subvention of $5 million and support services such as sports science and sports medicine.
The committee will discuss the institute's request at its next meeting in early September.
One member said they needed to carefully consider the request because staging the 2008 Olympic equestrian events would disrupt preparations for major tournaments.
The review under its current form was first started in 2001 with the sole criteria being results - unlike before when criteria such as the sport's popularity and its suitability to the Asian physique and temperament were taken into account.
