Hong Kong’s leader lights National Games flame as excitement builds for festival of sport
Chief Executive John Lee takes part in a ceremony in Guangzhou as clock ticks down to start of multi-sport event
Hong Kong’s leader John Lee Ka-chiu ignited the 15th National Games on Thursday, as the city’s athletes and officials set their sights on making a major impact on the multi-sport extravaganza.
As excitement over the sporting festival heightened, Lee attended a flame-lighting ceremony in the mainland city of Guangzhou, alongside Gao Zhidan, head of the General Administration of Sport of China, and Macau leader Sam Hou-fai.
Hong Kong will stage events in eight sports, with leading medal hopes Cheung Ka-long and Ryan Choi Chun-yin from fencing, cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing, and Asian Games champion golfer Taichi Kho among those chasing glory on home soil.
Tony Choi Yuk-kwan, CEO of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, backed the city’s athletes to “have a better performance” than the two gold and five bronze medals they delivered in Shaanxi four years ago.
He also said that welcoming the Games would “further enhance our international status”, adding it could provide a gateway to Hong Kong “playing a bigger part in future Asiad and Olympic Games”.
Lee lit the torch on behalf of Hong Kong at the event in Guangzhou’s Nansha District, where Guangdong deputy party secretary Meng Fanli told the audience that the Games, along with the subsequent National Games for Persons with Disabilities and National Special Olympic Games, were “the top multi-sport events of our country”.