‘HK has good system to produce top athletes’
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said on Thursday that Hong Kong has a good training system in place to produce new top athletes, noting that many of those representing the SAR at the Olympics this year are competing in the Games for the first time. The minister made the comments after arriving at the Olympic Village to meet the Hong Kong, China delegation, adding that the athletes are quite pleased with the facilities in Paris. Yeung said he is looking forward to cheering on the SAR squad during his time in the French capital. “Having very high-standard athletes starting to emerge in our system, which I think is very important for a region like Hong Kong because we are not just looking at one or two excellent athletes,” he said. “We would like to have a system that could continuously produce athletes up to the world standards. That is very encouraging to us and to everyone in Hong Kong.” Meanwhile, the Chef de Mission for the Hong Kong, China delegation Brian Stevenson said that the SAR team is coming in strong with many Olympic medal winners and world champions, adding that the team had no issues adjusting to the new environment. “I think we're very well prepared. We had a challenge initially, of course, which was to do with the air conditioning, which everybody had. And we resolved that by bringing in our own air conditioning units. And they got in. That was resolved. So all are getting absolutely no complaints. I'm getting no complaints,” he said. “Some of the delegations are a bit concerned about their athletes and the food. Not from the Hong Kong delegation. And we're always checking with them as regards to the food, the environment. Everything's good.” Stevenson also confirmed that the parade of athletes will take place on the River Seine by boat on July 26.