Every place has its own Olympic story, and Hong Kong is no exception.
On the first day of the Olympic Games, Hong Kong athletes made a "breakthrough of zero", demonstrating the strength of Hong Kong's competitive sports to the world.
This year's Olympic team has 35 athletes, which is not easy for a city with a population of just over 7 million. Over the years, the government has continued to invest resources and provide more advanced training facilities, which have played a positive role.
As a matter of fact, Hong Kong people's "Olympic fever" has been around for a long time, and the visit of mainland Olympic athletes to Hong Kong is more like a "special agreement......
A list of Hong Kong's gold medals
The name of the "Olympic Station" originated from Li Lishan
Although Hong Kong has not hosted the Olympic Games, and there are no facilities such as "Olympic Village" and "Olympic Venues", it has cleverly used a subway station "Olympic Station" to bring the Olympics to life, so that people will always remember the miracle and glory created by Hong Kong athletes in the Olympic Games.
At the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, Hong Kong's Lee Lai-shan won the gold medal in women's windsurfing, the first gold medal for the Hong Kong delegation since the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.
When the "Olympic Station" in Hong Kong was completed, it was originally intended to be called "Tai Kok Tsui Station". Because the "Olympic Station" is the MTR's station next to the new reclamation area in Tai Kok Tsui West, Kowloon, Hong Kong, this location was originally Tai Kok Tsui Ferry Pier. Only the Tung Chung Line passes through, and the Airport Express train passes through the middle passage. The West Rail Line (Kowloon South Line) passes through the underground of Sham Mong Road next to it.
However, it was just as Hong Kong's Lee Lai-shan returned from winning gold at the Atlanta Olympics, and at the Paralympic Games, athletes Cheung Yiu-cheung and Chiu Chung Pho also won two gold medals for Hong Kong!
As a result, the MTRC reached an agreement with the Hong Kong Amateur Sports Federation & Olympic Committee (now SF&OC) to name the station "Olympic Station" on 16 December 1996 under the name of "Olympic Games".
In Hong Kong's relationship with the mainland, the power of sport to bridge divides is not new. The roots of these cross-border sports exchanges can be traced back decades, even before Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, when Hong Kong and Guangdong began sports exchanges.
Liu Guoliang took the initiative to invite the Hong Kong, China table tennis team to take a group photo together.
For example, the Provincial-Hong Kong Cup Football Competition, which began in 1979, has been held for 42 years and has become an enduring symbol of sports friendliness. Since 1997, these exchanges have expanded significantly. Visits by Olympic champions to Hong Kong, coach exchanges and joint training programmes have become the norm.
Li Jing, head coach of the Hong Kong women's table tennis team.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Hong Kong team won the gold medal again after 25 years, and also set the best record in the Olympic Games with 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals. This is also the "first gold" of the Hong Kong team in the Olympic Games after the return! The "Olympic fever" has once again reached a climax in Hong Kong......
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Hong Kong welcomes the first Olympic gold medal after the handover! He Shibei made it to the finals or spread the good news again
It has become a common practice for Olympic "heavenly groups" to visit Hong Kong
When it comes to the "Olympic fever" of Hong Kong people, it has actually been going on for a long time. The visit of mainland Olympic athletes to Hong Kong is a "special appointment", and its particularity lies in the fact that it never fails to make an appointment once every four years.
Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, delegations of mainland Olympic athletes have visited Hong Kong six times in a row after the end of the Olympic Games, and have been warmly welcomed by people from all walks of life and people in Hong Kong. During their visit to Hong Kong, the athletes interacted closely with the people of Hong Kong in various ways, sharing the joy of victory with them and repaying the strong support of Hong Kong compatriots.
Since the end of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, 25 Sydney Olympic gold medalists led by gymnasts Liu Xuan and Li Xiaopeng to Hong Kong for a three-day event, the visit of the Olympic "heavenly group" to Hong Kong has gradually become a common practice.
Memorabilia of the visit to Hong Kong by the Olympic "Heavenly Group".
01
From November 26 to 29, 2000, 25 Sydney Olympic champions, including gymnasts Liu Xuan and Li Xiaopeng, and table tennis players Kong Linghui and Wang Nan, launched a three-day activity in Hong Kong, which was the first visit to Hong Kong by the national Olympic delegation after Hong Kong's return to the motherland. On the 27th and 28th, the delegation joined hands with Hong Kong athletes and the performing arts industry to present two performances: "The Glory of the Dragon" and "The Glory of the Dragon".
02
From 6 to 8 September 2004, all the mainland athletes who won gold medals at the Athens Olympics arrived in Hong Kong, including Liu Xiang, the champion of the 110-meter hurdles, Guo Jingjing, the champion of the 3-meter springboard diving, and all the members of the Chinese women's volleyball team, who won the Olympic championship for the second time. During their visit to Hong Kong, the delegation visited Hong Kong's famous tourist attractions, watched horse races, shared performances with Hong Kong entertainment stars, and had close contact with Hong Kong citizens in various other ways.
03
From 29 to 31 August 2008, a delegation of mainland Olympic gold medalists from the Beijing Olympic Games, including badminton star Lin Dan and gymnast Zou Kai, visited Hong Kong, during which they attended the flag-raising ceremony held at the Golden Bauhinia Square, participated in the "Olympic Gold Medal Elite Parade" held at the Hong Kong Stadium, and demonstrated table tennis, badminton, diving and gymnastics.
A delegation of athletes from the countries who won gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics visited Hong Kong, and the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, welcomed the delegation at the airport.
04
From 24 to 26 August 2012, a delegation of mainland gold medalists from the London Olympics paid a three-day visit to Hong Kong, including Lin Dan, the defending champion of the Olympic badminton men's singles competition, and Sun Yang, the first Chinese Olympic gold medalist in men's swimming. During the visit, in addition to demonstration performances of badminton, table tennis and diving, as well as cultural performances, they also had face-to-face exchanges with Hong Kong youths.
The Chinese women's volleyball team has visited Hong Kong several times and has been warmly welcomed by Hong Kong citizens. The picture shows the Chinese women's volleyball team during their visit to Hong Kong in 2016, swimming in the Chehe River and having close contact with the public.
05
From August 27 to 29, 2016, the Rio Olympic Games mainland Olympic elite delegation visited Hong Kong for the fifth time, in addition to the Chinese women's volleyball team, Zhang Jike, Sun Yang and other 42 athletes who won gold medals, there are also 3 athletes who did not win gold medals but are loved and concerned by Hong Kong people, they are the women's 100m backstroke bronze medalist Fu Yuanhui, the men's 100m sprint relay fourth place Su Bingtian and Lin Dan, who has participated in four Olympic Games.
The 2016 Rio Olympics national swimmers Sun Yang and Fu Yuanhui were warmly welcomed by the public in Hong Kong.
After the 2016 Rio Olympics, the national team visited Hong Kong, and Ma Long played an interactive table tennis match with Hong Kong primary school students.
After the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the national team performed in Hong Kong
Ma Long (back) and the team members performed a "one-on-three" table tennis performance.
Badminton superstar Lin Dan waved to the crowd.
"Flood Girl" Fu Yuanhui interacted with the audience.
Wu Minxia and Chen Aisen demonstrate diving.
06
Until December 2021, it was the sixth time that the Olympic "Heavenly Group" had visited Hong Kong. The delegation consisted of a total of 29 athletes and 3 coaches from 12 sports, including Su Bingtian, the "Asian Flyer" who ran 9.83 seconds in the men's 100 meters, Ma Long, who won the most Olympic championships in the history of world table tennis, Liu Shiying, the first Olympic women's javelin champion in China and Asia, and Sun Yiwen, China's first Olympic women's individual epee champion.
Every time an Olympic champion visits Hong Kong, there is a long queue in Hong Kong, and tickets are hard to come by. I look forward to seeing the Olympic athletes in Hong Kong after the end of the Paris Olympic Games!
In the third visit to Hong Kong, the arrival of the "Gold Medal Elite" of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was the most eye-catching! Five days after the end of the Beijing Olympics, a group of national athletes who won gold medals, including the "Queen of Diving" Guo Jingjing, the famous badminton player Lin Dan, the "big devil" of table tennis Zhang Yining, and the gymnast Zou Kai, have arrived in Hong Kong to launch the "Olympic Elite Gathering in Hong Kong" activity, which can be described as the peak of the lineup.
Diving gold medalists Guo Jingjing, Wu Minxia, Qin Kai and artist Joey Yung sang together.
In 2008, Hong Kong artist Andy Lau became the fourth torchbearer and the first artist torchbearer of the Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency at the time, as soon as the news of the arrival of the Olympic champions in Hong Kong came out, a "star-chasing fever" had been set off in Hong Kong, and the most popular "Olympic gold medal elites meeting with the public and sports demonstration performances", including diving, table tennis, badminton, and gymnastics, nearly 30,000 tickets were sold out in just over two hours after the public sale.
At that time, online ticket purchase was not popular, and some citizens made a special trip to queue up all night to buy tickets.
At many ticketing locations such as Central and Tsuen Wan, many citizens began to queue up all night to buy tickets one night in advance.
Donald Tsang greets the delegation of national Olympic gold medalists.
Even in 2021, under the new crown epidemic, 29 athletes and 3 coaches from 12 sports who achieved good results in the Tokyo Olympics still came to Hong Kong to communicate with the public in the form of closed-loop management.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the origin of the Olympic athletes' visit to Hong Kong is to thank and reciprocate.
Boxing gold medalist Zou Shiming performs.
Li Xiaoxia played a one-on-three performance with the junior players of the Hong Kong team.
Chen Ting competes with the Hong Kong Youth Competition.
Spectators waved Chinese flags and the regional flags of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to cheer on the athletes.
Hong Kong people have a long history of favouring and loving the Olympic Games and sports. From the establishment of the Hong Kong Cup Football Tournament in 1978 to the equestrian competition of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, Hong Kong has made indelible contributions to the development of sports in the motherland over the past 40 years of reform and opening up.
During the period before the reform and opening up, the mainland's sports exchanges with the outside world were almost at a standstill. In 1977, the Hong Kong football team went to Beijing to participate in the Asian, African and Latin American International Football Invitational Tournament, which attracted the attention of all parties. In order to promote the development and exchange of sports in the motherland, Fok Ying-tung, a famous patriotic entrepreneur in Hong Kong, proposed the idea of establishing an annual provincial-Hong Kong cup in 1978. As a result, with the efforts of all parties, the "Provincial and Hong Kong Cup Football Match" came into being.
Hong Kong football team in 1977.
Personnel from both sides who participated in the signing ceremony of the agreement of the provincial-Hong Kong cup football match.
Since the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, Fok Ying-tung's sports fund has begun to allocate funds to reward the national team and Hong Kong team athletes who have won medals in the Olympic Games.
In 1990, he donated HK$100 million to the Beijing Asian Games, and in 2008, he donated HK$200 million to build the Water Cube Natatorium.
Today, the Fok Ying Tung family has donated more than hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars to China's sports cause, not only rewarding outstanding athletes for a long time, but also silently donating a large amount of money to sports scientific research.
Famous patriotic entrepreneur Huo Yingdong
In addition, Hong Kong's support for sports in the motherland includes the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which is renowned for its physiotherapy, and its Sports Medicine and Health Sciences Centre, which has sent a number of members to provide physiotherapy services for the national team in Beijing on a regular basis. The national team has also provided support and assistance to the Hong Kong team in various aspects, including directly allowing the Hong Kong team to train with the national team.
On the occasion of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Olympic Games will set sail again, and the whole city of Hong Kong will be full of atmosphere.
Just like the "Queen of the Swords" Jiang Minxian said: "Hong Kong Spirit" is the gold medal of Hong Kong athletes!
Written by/Synthesized/Edited by Oriole Kirilli
Editor: Jianzong
Proofreader: Zhuo Ling
Review: Oriole
Executive Producer: Yushan
Source: Xinhua News Agency, China News Agency, Internet, etc