HK gears up for big day
There are less than 500 days to go until the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
A 13-metre-high, 500-day Countdown Clock was set in motion at Kowloon Park on Tuesday to mark the run-up to the much-anticipated sporting extravaganza.
Five hundred youngsters also unveiled a 'mega-puzzle' that they had put together as part of the celebrations at the park in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The clock, like the 14-metre-high model in front of the National Museum on the mainland, counts the days, hours, minutes and seconds remaining until the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics at 8pm on August 8 next year.
As Hong Kong will be hosting the 2008 Olympic equestrian events, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) will set up an information booth to promote equestrian events.
The HKJC is one of five organisations participating in an Olympics Countdown exhibition that runs until Sunday.
From 1pm to 5pm on Sunday, two Shetland ponies and the Equestrian Mascot will make a special appearance to meet the public and pose for photos.
Several distinguished guests took part in the countdown ceremony on Tuesday. They included Simon Ip, president of the Hong Kong Equestrian Federation; Patrick Ho Chi-ping, Secretary for Home Affairs; Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong; Elsie Leung, chairman of the Board of Governors of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Equestrian Events Hong Kong Fund; Jenny Fung, chairman of the Hong Kong Paralympics Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled; Lam Woon-kwong, chief executive officer of The Equestrian Company; and Kevin Rollenhagen, president of Omega, which has been the official timekeeper at 22 Olympic Games since 1932.
Organisers hope the Kowloon Park exhibition will stimulate Hongkongers' interest in equestrian sports, as the city prepares to host the Olympic events in Sha Tin and Fanling.
