Olympic heroes to lift HK status

More than 20 Beijing Olympic Games gold medallists will appear at next month's East Asian Games as Hong Kong sets out to prove it can host bigger multi-sport events in the future.

As the list of 2,300 participating athletes was unveiled yesterday - along with models of the three medals - the president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, said a successful Games would be a natural stepping stone to the biggest games in the region.

'The world's eyes will be on Hong Kong next month when we stage our first-ever major games and, if we can leave the sporting community with a good impression, it will be easier for us to convince them Hong Kong is capable of staging bigger games in the future,' Fok said.

'It is too early to say if we will bid for the 2019 Asian Games as there is a decade to go but, as an international city, Hong Kong should demonstrate we have the ability to host major sporting games.'

International Olympic Committee president Dr Jacques Rogge, Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and IOC members from the nine participating countries and regions of the EAG will be the guests of honour at the opening ceremony of the December 5-13 extravanganza, which will cost the city HK$1.3 billion.

Fok said he would solicit the opinions of Rogge and company before formulating a plan for further action, but building more world-class venues would be a prerequisite.

'We have built some very good facilities for EAG competitions but not for world-class sporting events because there are limited numbers of seats for spectators,' Fok said.