Tokyo Paralympics: Hong Kong adds a silver lining to its campaign with 2 medals on the final day of competition
- Hong Kong doubles medal haul with silver and bronze in badminton
- China comfortably tops the table for a fifth straight Paralympics with 207 medals
It was a timely boost for China whose focus now quickly shifts to its National Games later this month before the final preparations for the fast-approaching Beijing Winter Games next February.
The five-medal haul also included the efforts of Leung Yuk-wing and Vivian Lau Wai-yan, who secured mixed pairs boccia silver on Saturday, and the bronze medal heroics of Wong Ting-ting in table tennis, as well as Leung’s individual boccia bronze.
“During the Games, all athletes performed their best to achieve the results, which were quite satisfactory. Two silver and three bronze is still a satisfactory result,” said Hong Kong chef de mission Wu Siu-ling.
“Under the pandemic conditions, the Paralympic Games had been postponed for a year and the athletes were forced to stop their training. We then readjusted our training due to a lack of international or regional competitions. We were forced to organise internal competitions and competitions against able-bodied athletes to maintain our training.”
Despite a run of podium wins in the final two days of competition, the five-medal return marks the city’s smallest haul in over 40 years. Five years ago in Rio de Janeiro, Hong Kong’s Paralympic mission delivered six medals, including two golds.
The high water mark for Hong Kong at the Paralympics came in Athens in 2004 when the city’s delegation of 23 athletes claimed a staggering 19 medals, 11 of which were gold.
Over the years, Hong Kong has defied its small population to consistently punch above its weight at the Paralympics, and traditionally sees great success at the Games. On the overall medal tally since the Paralympics were introduced in 1960, Hong Kong, which only began to compete in 1974, sits in a hugely commendable 34th place above sporting heavyweights such as Portugal, Greece and India.
Support for Hong Kong’s Paralympians within the city was at an all-time high and Wu said that is in part thanks to the government.
“The extension of live coverage of the Paralympics after the Olympic Games let many Hong Kong people watch the performances of our disabled athletes and increased the attention on disabled sports,” Wu said. “Thanks to the government for buying the broadcasting rights to provide such an opportunity and other related government departments for providing huge support.
“Our 24 athletes and the stories behind them provided much positive energy to society and attracted disabled persons in Hong Kong to take up disabled sports so that they may one day can become our athletes and represent Hong Kong.”
It was a far more satisfying campaign for China, which comfortably topped the medal table for a fifth straight Paralympics with 207 medals including 96 golds, 60 silvers and 51 bronze medals despite sending a reduced team of 251 athletes.
China swept the podium in four swimming events as it maintained its dominance at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. It also claimed an incredible 10 gold medals in wheelchair fencing to finish second on the event medal table behind traditional powerhouse France.
China, which was represented in 20 of the 22 sports competed in Tokyo, finished top of the medal table for individual events in powerlifting and, somewhat predictably, table tennis.
