HK$6 million for Tokyo gold? Hong Kong athletes likely to receive incentive boost for 2020 Olympics
Henderson Land is expected to offer the same dollar-for-dollar payout for the Olympics as they did for the Asian Games
A mouth-watering HK$6 million cash incentive could be on offer to any Hong Kong athlete who wins a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with a possible HK$8.4 million for the winners of a team sport.
Henderson Land, sponsors for the Commendation Scheme for Elite Athletes, indicated it was likely to extend its incentive support to the next Olympics in two years.
“We are very interested in supporting the athletes for the Tokyo Olympics,” said Martin Lee Ka-shing, vice-chairman of Henderson Land Group, when presenting cash awards for medal winners at the 2018 Indonesia Asian Games on Friday. “We will discuss with the Sports Institute an arrangement similar to the one that was in place for the Asian Games.”
At the presentation at the Sports Institute in Fo Tan, the property developer joined the Jockey Club Charities Trust to reward all the 107 medallists who won eight gold, 18 silver and 20 bronze medals in Indonesia.
Under the existing Jockey Club Charities incentive scheme, an individual gold medallist receives
HK$400,000 and Henderson Land matches the amount to make it HK$800,000 in total. A team gold is worth HK$1.6 million.
Cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze received HK$1.6 million for the sprint and keirin golds she won at the Games.