Olympic stars meet with Hong Kong sports enthusiasts

The Olympic passion of Hong Kong residents has been ignited further as they have the opportunity to witness the charm of Paris Olympic champions visiting the city.

Following their triumph at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a delegation of Chinese mainland Olympians, including 59 gold medalists, are on a three-day visit to Hong Kong to share their Olympic stories before leaving for Macao on Saturday.

On Friday morning, the Olympians were divided into groups and visited various places to interact with local athletes, students from Hong Kong primary and secondary schools and the general public, earning the athletes a rapturous welcome.

More than 30 athletes and coaches, including table tennis players Wang Chuqin and Wang Manyu, visited the Hong Kong Sports Institute, an institution that has nurtured numerous outstanding Hong Kong athletes over the years, to engage with local athletes and build friendships.

The delegation gained insights into how the institute nurtures athletes, touring various training facilities on campus. The institute organized a series of sports activities, such as allowing the swimming athletes to experience fencing and table tennis players to try squash.

To enhance interaction among the athletes from the mainland and Hong Kong, fun activities were organized, including demonstration competitions like cycling challenges to test endurance and quick games to assess agility.

There were also exchanges and sharing sessions between members of the national table tennis team and the Hong Kong team, who used to be opponents in many competitions.

Elena Chi Yi-lam, a swimmer on the Hong Kong team, brought a swimming cap to have it signed and also to be photographed with her favorite swimmer and role model, Zhang Yufei, who won one silver and five bronze medals at the Paris Games.

Chi said the swimming cap features a design of the flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, her hometown, along with a signature of her role model, making it a cherished and significant souvenir for her.

"This cap will give me more motivation and prevent me from giving up. I hope that in the future, I will be as great as her," she added.

Quan Hongchan, a two-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist in diving, along with several other national athletes, visited St. Paul's College to meet with local students.

Dozens of fans showed up outside the school early in the morning to see the stars, who were greeted by the crowd with cheers and the clicking of camera shutters outside the school when they arrived.

Gary Liu, 10, is an admirer of Quan. He got up at 7:30 am and traveled for about 1.5 hours from his home in Tuen Mun to the college to get a glimpse of his idol.

Liu said he was moved not only by Quan's great diving skills, but also by her persistence even under adversity or while injured. He added that the excellent qualities he has seen in Quan have inspired him to study hard.

Chen Meng, who clinched golds in women's single and team competitions in table tennis in Paris, visited the college on Friday, and said she hoped to bring the spirit of sports and positive energy into schools through these exchanges.

At the badminton court of the South China AA Sports Complex in Causeway Bay, the mixed doubles badminton champions at the Paris Olympics Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong engaged in entertaining matches with local badminton enthusiasts.

Wong Pak-hang, 17, a student from St. Simon's Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, enjoyed watching the pair's matches very much, and got an autograph from Zheng this time.

"Their competitive spirit inspires me to improve my skills and face the challenges in life," Wong said.

The Olympians participated in a gala show on Friday night and are set to showcase their skills at two demonstrations, one at Queen Elizabeth Stadium and the other at the Victoria Park Swimming Pool on Saturday.

It has been a tradition for mainland Olympic medalists to visit the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions after finishing the Summer Olympic Games.