Letters | Tokyo Olympics: what Hong Kong can do for its elite athletes next
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Besides bringing glory and recognition to Hong Kong, medal winners were also given incentive awards by commercial sponsors.
But what about those who did not win any medals? They also sacrificed their personal lives, deferred their education and careers, and might also be prone to suffer from psychological and injury-related health problems.
While placement programmes were coordinated by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Sports Institute, several athletes have told me that these placements failed to meet their expectations and that they wanted to have better careers than serving as interns/apprentices or supply teachers/helpers in schools.
The local universities were very supportive in admitting elite athletes, providing them with scholarships and allowing them to defer their enrolment until they retire from competition. However, only a few of them have the expertise to counsel retired elite athletes and to match their talents to their expectations in life.
It was thus timely for us to consider setting up a Hong Kong Elite Athlete Professional Development Centre to serve elite athletes (both abled and disabled) who would be retiring within a year and with a follow-up in the next five years if needed.