Efforts were for young, says HK sports doyen

When A. de O. Sales, the grand old man of Hong Kong sport, reflects on what the Olympics means to the city, his focus is not on medals and glory. Rather, it is on 'giving the kids a chance'.

Now retired from his many public roles, Mr Sales, 88, also known as Sonny, said his desire to give young people a chance lay behind his decades of service with the then Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee, where he was dubbed 'the tsar' for his strong leadership.

'I wanted the youth of Hong Kong to be given a chance and to take part in sports in their districts and subsequently from their districts abroad, going abroad for their inter-port games and subsequently the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games,' he said.

Mr Sales was a key figure in Hong Kong's Olympic story even before it began. In 1950, he attended the first meeting of the Amateur Athletic Federation of Hong Kong, becoming joint honorary secretary. International Olympic Committee recognition followed in 1951, enabling the city to participate in the Olympics for the first time in 1952 in Helsinki, where Mr Sales cheered on the colony's four swimmers.

He was chef de mission of several Hong Kong Olympic delegations, including the team housed above the Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Games. Mr Sales rushed to the Olympic Village when news of the attack broke and led two trapped Hong Kong sports officials to safety. It was a 'very dangerous' moment, he recalls.

His mission deputy, Raymond Young, later wrote of Mr Sales' 'great courage' in approaching the militant leader for permission to reach his team members.