Sports Kaleidoscope

1. Making notable contributions

2. Proposing sound improvement recommendations 

3. Promoting teamwork and cohesiveness

4. Optimising effective use of information technology

5. Demonstrating leadership

6. Contributing towards enhancement of corporate governance

The LCSD had received overwhelming responses and a number of nominations from NSAs.

Upon assessment, a total of 10 staff members from across NSAs won the Award this year (2021-22). The list of awardees is as follows (in no order of preference):

Figure Skating – A Visual Feast of Artistry

Figure skating is one of the highlight events in the Winter Olympics, where impressively dressed athletes jump and twirl in an elegant manner, just like dancing on ice. In fact, it was part of everyday life to skate across frozen ponds and lakes in very early days. It was not until the end of the 19th century that figure skating had developed into a sport and had become popularised across the US and Canada. American ballet master Jackson Haines introduced the elements of ballet, dancing and music into the sport of figure skating, followed by modifications to skating boots and blades to facilitate such moves as spins and jumps, with the aim of making this sport ever more visually entertaining.

As a Winter Olympic event, figure skating has five categories of competitions, namely men’s singles, women’s singles, pair skating, ice dance and team event, with each consisting of the short programme and free skate. Athletes are then ranked based on their total scores in the two programmes. They are awarded two sets of scores in each programme on artistic and technical merits. Artistic scores are awarded mainly based on their performance, while technical scores are awarded based on the degree of difficulty of their movements and the extent of their completion of the programmes. To qualify for the free skate, skaters must first secure a higher ranking in the short programme. They are eventually ranked according to their total score in the short programme and free skate. The Hong Kong Skating Union organises international competitions annually to identify more promising new talent and to promote their exchanges with athletes across the globe.

Ice Hockey – A Sport Played in Full Gear

Originating from Canada and long dominated by the US, Canadian and Scandinavian players, ice hockey is a competitive sport involving significant physical contact and demanding strategy, speed and power, thereby carrying a certain risk. During a match, players may hit opponents with their shoulders, chest and hips, but must not skate for more than three steps at a time. Neither must they jump to collide with opponents. The team with more goals will be declared a winner.

There are six players on each side of the rink, including a goalkeeper. Each team will field 23 players in a match. Penalties in ice hockey are very detailed. For example, tripping, blocking or interfering with an opponent with a stick is all viewed as fouls, for which offenders will be penalised with a two-minute ban in the penalty box. It is therefore not uncommon to see an unequal number of players in the teams during a match. Each ice hockey match consists of three 20-minute periods. An ice hockey match cannot end in a tie. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation time, the match will go into sudden death overtime to be played four-on-four, with only one goalkeeper and three players on each team. The team scoring first will be declared a winner. Given there are many ice hockey enthusiasts in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey and the Hong Kong Ice Hockey Association organise experience days and various types of training courses annually, with a view to promoting the development of ice hockey as a local sport for all.

Bobsleighs – Formula One (F1) Racing on Ice 

Bobsleighs, also known as “bobsled”, made its debut as an event at the first Winter Olympics. Travelling at a top speed of 160 km per hour, bobsleighs are referred to as the “F1 racing cars on ice”. Bobsleigh rules are simple and easy to understand. Athletes begin in a standing position. At the start of a race, they run while pushing bobsleighs forward for about 50 m, before hopping on board in a specified order. The team completing the course in the shortest time possible wins.

The speed of bobsleighs in a race is dependent on their weights, air resistance and frictional resistance. Bobsleigh racing has traditionally been viewed as a team sport, with the previous Winter Olympic Games featuring two-man, two-woman and four-man bobsleigh events. The four-man bobsleigh crew consists of a pilot, two pushers and a brakeman. The pilot steers the bobsleigh with a rope in selecting the best possible route, while avoiding crashing into both sides of a course. The brakeman is tasked with making the bobsleigh grind to a halt beyond the finish line by pulling the brake lever. The crew in two-man and two-woman events consists of two members, with one being the pilot and the other the brakeman. A new individual event – the women’s monobob – was introduced into this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics. Bobsleigh racing has failed to prosper in Hong Kong over the years due to climate factors and constraints on venues. Given the performances by Chinese bobsleigh athletes at the Winter Olympics since 2018, the sport will surely gain increasing prominence in future.