Editor’s note: Olympic medalists from the mainland will visit Hong Kong from Friday to Sunday. In the routine courtesy visit, the top athletes will meet with various groups of local residents. China Daily talked to members of various sectors before the visit. In the first installment of a series on the impact of the delegation’s visit on the city’s sports development, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, said he appreciates the bonding between Hong Kong and the motherland.

This undated photo shows Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Timothy Fok Tsun-ting

President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China

Q: A delegation of mainland Olympians will visit Hong Kong from Friday to Sunday. How do you feel about the visit and what are your expectations? Will you take your children and other family members to attend the exchange activities?

A: We are thrilled by our national Olympians visiting Hong Kong, as their success inspires our own and affirms the bond with our community. Our family will be there to support them, and our Olympic Committee will be giving a reception in their honor.

Q: After the Tokyo Olympic Games, what changes did you observe in the city’s sports atmosphere?

A: The Tokyo Games 2020, held in 2021, were a watershed for Hong Kong, as our athletes won for the territory a record haul of Olympic medals: one gold, a pair of silvers, and a triplet of bronzes. The city, to celebrate, staged a parade and permitted our champions to greet and thank the public for the support. We were ecstatic to see the surge of enthusiasm in knowing we will have many more future champions because of the inspired feats we witnessed in Tokyo.

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Q: How will such exchange activity affect the city’s sports development?

A: Sporting exchanges between sportsmen and -women are always fruitful. We admire our athletes whether they are from our home country or our home city. We are one as a people and we will back each other in sports and in all endeavors. Our China is a sporting power, and Hong Kong is blessed to have our homeland as our partner and guide.

We admire our athletes whether they are from our home country or our home city. We are one as a people and we will back each other in sports and in all endeavors. Our China is a sporting power, and Hong Kong is blessed to have our homeland as our partner and guide.

Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China

Q: The Hong Kong and Chinese mainland sports sectors have maintained close ties, and Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions will co-host the 2025 National Games. Could you share some of the latest developments and plans in the cooperation and communication of the two sides? What are your suggestions and expectations on future collaboration?

A: The Greater Bay Area comprises very dynamic cities. We succeed by cooperating closely in every sphere, sports not excepted. We see the 2025 National Games as a culmination and confirmation of the process in which communities can work together to create marvels. Our region has produced many great athletes. We can also be wonderful hosts, as we are to prove.

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Q: Before the athletes’visit, some of the nation’s top aerospace scientists and architectural engineers also visited Hong Kong earlier this year. How do you see these activities influencing the city’s youth? What other experts do you expect to come?

A: I should not be boastful but must say the Pearl River Delta region is a magnet to talents in many fields. To have the best scientists and engineers to visit us is very heartening because that is a high recommendation. Our best and brightest young people aspire to become inventors, and innovators need to meet face to face those who preceded them and are role models. By fostering tutorship, we can have the senior, the experienced, pass down their knowledge and be mentors. Our future is splendid as our youths advance along the right path, succeed, and be the guiding light for our nation.