Twenty athletes will represent Hong Kong at the Paralympic Games in Beijing next month while one will compete in the equestrian competition on home soil.
A flag presentation ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday to cheer on the athletes, most of whom will fly to Beijing on Tuesday.
Team members will contest eight events: athletics, boccia - a ball game - dressage, power-lifting, rowing, shooting, table tennis and wheelchair fencing.
The lineup includes sprinter So Wa-wai, holder of world records at 100 metres and 200 metres in class T36, and fencers Yu Chui-yee and Chan Yui-chong, who won gold at the Athens Paralympic Games four years ago. Nelson Yip Siu-hong will contest the Paralympic equestrian events, which will be held at the Sha Tin equestrian venue from September 7 to 11.
Yip, 39, said he was excited and proud to be able to join the Paralympics in his home city.
'As a first-time participant at the Paralympic Games, I will take this chance as a very valuable opportunity to learn from others,' he said.
'To show my best side is the goal I set for myself.'
