Going for gold: Hong Kong will send 24 athletes to compete in the Rio 2016 Paralympics
The athletes, ranging from 18 to 55 years old, qualified for eight sporting events; this is also the first time in 16 years a Hongkonger is competing in an archery event.
Hong Kong is sending 24 athletes to compete in eight events at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.
The international sports competition, involving athletes with a range of physical and mental disabilities, will start on September 7, after the Olympic Games end on August 21.
The Hong Kong athletes, ranging from 18 to 55 years old, qualified for eight sporting events: archery, athletics, equestrian, shooting, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair fencing and boccia, a target ball game similar to bowling.
This year is also the first time in 16 years a Hongkonger is competing in an archery event. The last time an athlete qualified for the sport was in the 2000 Paralympics held in Sydney, Australia.
“Our athletes have been preparing ever since the torch flame from the London Paralympics [in 2012] went out,” James Joseph Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, said.
“In these four years, they’ve trained really hard, competed in international competitions and put in all their blood and sweat into making it for the Rio Paralympics,” Lam added.
Accompanying the athletes are 31 other delegates, including team officials, coaches and physiotherapists, making a total of 55 attending the 15th Summer Paralympic Games since the competition began in 1960.