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Standing proud at the National Games –
Hong Kong Athletes Rewrite Records with 16 Medals

Hong Kong’s athletes achieved outstanding results at the 13th National Games of the People’s Republic of China (National Games), winning a total of 16 medals, including 2 gold, 7 silver and 7 bronze medals. This was double the amount of medals won in the previous season. Approximately 60% of the athletes were ranked in the top 8, making this year Hong Kong’s best performance in the National Games since it started sending athletes to participate in the Eighth National Games.

The National Games was held successfully in Tianjin from 27 August to 8 September last year. It is a comprehensive sports event of the highest level and largest scale in China and a total of 38 delegations from various provinces and municipalities of China attended this year’s event. The Hong Kong SAR sent a delegation of 254 athletes to participate in 22 competition categories. They competed fearlessly in each match and did their best to win glory for Hong Kong.

To increase public participation, the General Administration of Sport of China, the host of the National Games, added 19 new mass sports events this year and allowed the Hong Kong Sports federation, sports groups and Hong Kong citizens that qualified for individual categories (such as age requirements or if there was no team representing the Hong Kong SAR in the designated sporting event), to register themselves. Hong Kong’s athletes also participated enthusiastically and won 1 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals.

At the welcoming ceremony for the return of the Hong Kong team, Mr Lau Kong-wah, Secretary for Home Affairs, praised Hong Kong’s athletes for demonstrating Hong Kong’s spirit of not being afraid of hardships and of perseverance, for making the Hong Kong people proud, and for setting a good example for the youths of Hong Kong. He also wished that each athlete would be able to draw on their own valuable experience from the National Games and achieve success again for Hong Kong next year at the Jakarta Asian Games.