Hong Kong’s first-ever sports science and medicine support centre to provide extra services for Olympians

The centre will be staffed by Hong Kong Sports Institute professionals from outside the official delegation to bolster Hong Kong’s medal hopes

Hong Kong athletes can benefit from the services of 16 experts specialising in physiotherapy, psychology, nutrition and fitness

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Hong Kong is sending the second largest delegation to the Tokyo Olympic Games. Photo: Pool picture

Published: 4:00pm, 17 Jul 2021Updated: 4:15pm, 17 Jul 2021

Hong Kong will set up a specialised sports science and medicine support centre in Ginza to provide additional services to athletes taking part in the Tokyo Olympics.

The centre will be the first of its kind for Hong Kong in a major Games and will be staffed by professionals such as physiotherapists, sports psychologists, nutritionists and fitness conditioning experts from the Hong Kong Sports Institute.

Hong Kong is sending 46 athletes, including two alternates, to the Games with the squad boasting a number of medal hopefuls in sports such as fencing, track cycling, swimming, karate, table tennis and badminton.

The unprecedented potential for medals means Hong Kong athletes would benefit from these additional services, which have been discussed since the Rio Olympics five years ago.

The Sports Institute will set up a support centre in Tokyo to provide services to Hong Kong athletes. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

“At the debriefing after the Rio Games, we already discussed the possibility of setting up such a centre to provide more services to our athletes before we knew anything about Tokyo,” said Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, chef de mission of the Hong Kong delegation for the 2016 Games.

“These kinds of services are pivotal to the performance of our athletes but there is a quota of staff in the delegation as we all know. If we can set up our own support centre from outside while keeping a certain number of medical persons in the delegation, it will definitely help.”