LOCAL STUDENT athletes at the World University Games in South Korea can become Hong Kong champions of the future, says a top sports official.
Sending teams to the Games is a crucial part of developing a more vigorous sports culture in the SAR and will breed success, said the Hong Kong Sports Development Board's (SDB) Professor Frank Fu Hoo-kin.
The 22nd Universiade opens tomorrow in the south-eastern Korean city of Daegu and runs until August 31.
'These Games are an event of world significance and the athletes who compete for Hong Kong in Daegu can go on and become key members of our national teams of the future,' said Professor Fu, who is chairman of the SDB's Sport Development Committee.
'Many of the Games-bound athletes have already represented Hong Kong in international competitions. Sending more than 80 athletes and officials to Korea shows that attitudes to sports culture in Hong Kong are changing. We're moving along and our athletes are getting better all the time.'
The Games - held every two years - have a distinguished pedigree. Some of the most celebrated sports figures such as Olympic medallists Michael Johnson and Steve Backley used the competition as a springboard for their headline-grabbing achievements.
