Are the Hong Kong Sports Institute’s selection criteria holding the territory back from winning more international medals?
The city continues to struggle on the international stage, but is it working towards developing more realistic competitors or on the wrong track completely?
Twenty years after the handover, the number of elite sports in Hong Kong has increased by more than 50 per cent, but are we moving on the right track?
In a commerce-driven city where sport has never been on top of its people’s agenda, there has, however, been a significant growth in the number of elite sports – from 12 “focus sports” in 1997 to 19 when the Sports Institute announced the latest list in April.
That may seem quite surprising considering recent performances on the international stage show the city’s athletes still struggle against the world’s best.
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The Rio Olympic Games last year, featuring 28 sports, offered Hong Kong a realistic expectation of at least a smattering of podium finishes.
However, other than track cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze, who was in serious contention before falling from her bike in the women’s keirin second round, athletes were a far distance from any Olympic medal.
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They returned from Rio empty-handed, as was the case on so many previous occasions when competing at the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza.
(From left to right) Tong Wai-lun; Olympic Committee vice-president Pui Kwan-kay; Committee chairman Chan Kin-por; Ma Fung-kok; Vivien Lau Chiang-chu; Tony Yue Kwok-leung; and Priscilla Leung as the petition from 73 national sports associations was handed to the committee Chairman urging officials to sign off on the long-delayed Kai Tak Sports. Photo: David Wong
