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SCMP Reporter

THREE hundred athletes vied for gold and glory at the 18th Hong Kong Special Olympics Athletic Meeting yesterday.

  The meeting is called ''special'' because the competitors are mentally handicapped - but their enthusiasm is mammoth.

  Wong Fun-fun showed her joy when she won first place in the 25-metre sprint by taking a victory lap around Kowloon's Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground.

  Ms Wong, 32, said her sights were now on the international Special Olympics in 1995. Her gold medal topped last year's effort, when she took a silver medal in the same event.

 The meeting included sprints, long jumps, relays, tennis ball throws and bean bag throws.

 Winners from yesterday's competition qualified for the Inter-Cities Invitation Games - covering Japan, China, Macau and Singapore - to be held on December 11. The meeting was the first in a series to be held until next August.

  The other events will include swimming, ice skating, volleyball, handball and tennis.

  In total, 25,000 people are expected to compete in all the Special Olympic events planned, which is 5,000 more than last year.

  The director of Hong Kong Special Olympics, David Ip Siu-wo, said the territory had the highest number of Special Olympic competitors in Asia.

  ''In the Asia region, Hong Kong was the first to develop special athletics meet programmes,'' he said.

  ''We have now developed a very comprehensive training programme for the competitors and have training courses for their teachers.'' 



Enthusiasm takes out first place at Special Olympics