Chinese Olympians wow Hong Kong crowds in multi-sport display alongside top local athletes
- Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Ma Long and Wang Zongyuan star in stadium and pool demos, while all 29 feature in bumper variety show
- ‘Our country will become a sports powerhouse in 2035,’ Olympic weightlifting champion Lu Xiaojun declares
China’s top Olympians had Hong Kong fans cheering and gasping as they turned on the style with multi-sport demonstrations on Saturday morning and a jam-packed variety show in the evening.
On day two of their goodwill tour of Hong Kong, the Tokyo 2020 Games medallists divided up to parade around two venues, much to the delight of fans bearing handheld China flags. They reunited for an evening variety show at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
Just 2km away at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, a group of 11 athletes and coaches – including table tennis players Ma Long and Xu Xin, badminton duo Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping, gymnasts Liu Yang, Zou Jingyuan and Zhu Xueying, and fencer Sun Yiwen – led what turned out to be a multi-sport medley with local professional and aspiring athletes.
The full 29-athlete delegation appeared at the variety show for a more intimate look into their personal experiences while also engaging in casual sports-related games with hosts and local athletes. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was among the crowd of almost 2,000.
Hong Kong’s Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Lee Wai-sze represented the home-grown talent alongside sprint cyclist champion Zhong Tianshi, while the show climax came when record-breaking sprinter Su Bingtian, a Guangdong native, greeted the audience in Cantonese. Shot-put gold medallist and fan favourite Gong Lijiao brought further laughs with her humorous attempt at introducing herself in heavily accented Cantonese.
