Medallists in and out of parks in 'record' time
China's Olympic heroes sped through Ocean Park and Disneyland in under two hours yesterday, before ending their three-day whirlwind tour of Hong Kong.
Nineteen of the athletes were greeted by a brass band and Whiskers the sea lion mascot at Ocean Park in the morning. In their ranks were women's and men's synchronised diving gold medallists Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin, Lin Yue and Huo Liang, and weightlifter Long Qingquan .
The athletes took the park's cable car and watched the Sea Dreams water show, with dolphins and sea lions leaping, spinning and flipping. Chen and Wang, who earned gold medals for similar feats, watched from the stage as star guests. Though the divers did not enter the water, they shook hands with and stroked the dolphins, and received whiskery kisses from the sea lions.
The park gave each athlete in the delegation, including those who did not visit yesterday, a lifelong admission pass, an Ocean Park gold medal and a dolphin toy.
Although other athletes went to Disneyland, Ocean Park chairman Allan Zeman insisted it did not matter. 'We are not really in a competition with Disney ... even if we got one athlete, we'd appreciate it. These are really superb athletes.'
It was a climactic moment for the hundreds of sports fans waiting for hours at Disneyland when 20 gold medallists - including badminton player Lin Dan, table tennis veteran Ma Lin, star gymnast Cheng Fei , 'trampoline princess' He Wenna and shooting champion Du Li - came out of the Sleeping Beauty castle yesterday morning.
Five members of the women's gymnastics team, including Jiang Yuyuan, He Kexin and Yang Yilin, led the way. Linking arms with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, the gymnasts smiled as they posed for pictures.
The athletes dropped by the American theme park for their whirlwind tour amid the hot weather and showers.
Their hour-long, jam-packed itinerary included the 'Stitch Encounter' show in Tomorrowland, where they met 50 mainland and local child cancer patients, and an outdoor musical performance. But they were ushered, mid-show, to the indoor ride 'Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters' as a sudden shower fell.
Their trip was cut short an hour by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee the night before due to their hectic schedule, said a park employee.
For many fans unable to secure seats at Saturday's sports demonstrations and variety show, this was their chance to get up close and personal with their idols. Armed with cameras, Olympics volunteer shirts and autograph albums, many lined up for more than three hours.
Park staff and security workers formed human chains to hold back the enthusiastic crowd.
Lin Dan received a rock star's welcome as he worked his way through the park, hounded by the press and mobbed by female fans. Though he stopped for photos and autographs every few minutes, the star barely smiled and did not take off his sunglasses once.
Four-year-old Jasmine Wong Sum-ching was all smiles after she shook Lin's hand. Her father Wong Wai-chak said: 'We're at Disneyland especially to see the stars. Since we can't go to Beijing, we'll certainly take every opportunity to see the athletes now that they're here.'
