As the grand finale of the 15th National Games opening ceremony, the Hong Kong and Macao delegations entered the stadium side by side with their Guangdong counterparts on Sunday at the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center in Guangzhou.
The audience made a resounding ovation when the three delegations made their appearance.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
Both chief executives of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR attended the ceremony.
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In a speech at the ceremony, John Lee Ka-chiu expressed his gratitude and pride for cohosting the event, saying he was deeply touched by the great importance the country has attached to sports, the cordial care it has shown to athletes and sports professionals, and the profound affection it has extended to the people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In concluding, Lee also extended an invitation to all to visit Hong Kong for the games, experiencing the city’s charm and vibrancy in person.
Macao CE Sam Hou-fai said the games is a living embodiment of the integrated development of the GBA and the practice of “one country, two systems”.
Sam also said cohosting the event has allowed friends at home and abroad see the institutional advantages of the GBA and Macao’s vitality.
Led by flag bearer rowing athlete Chiu Hin-chun, Hong Kong delegation comprises 69 people – including athletes, support staff and two officials – Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Delegation Cheng King-leung and Director of Leisure and Cultural Services and also Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee of the HKSAR Delegation Manda Chan Wing-man.
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Hong Kong fielded a largest-ever delegation, with 602 athletes to compete in 28 sports events and 270 team officials and medical personnel. So far, the city has raked in two golds at the ongoing games, with sailor Nicholas Halliday clinching the city’s first gold medal in the Men's ILCA 7 event and Hong Kong cyclist Lee Sze-wing successfully defending her title at Women's Road Cycling Individual. In addition, it also send around 1,000 – athletes and officials - to 23 mass participation events. This brought the size of total delegation to 1,800 people, four times larger than that of the last games.
In the previous seven games, Hong Kong has won a total of 47 medals – 11 golds, 13 silvers and 23 bronzes. The cycling team is the largest winner by clinching 10 golds in the previous seven games.
Macao sent a 400-strong delegation to contest in 23 sports events at the games, including badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling and table tennis. On Thursday, Macao made history by winning the city’s first gold at National Games since the region made its debut at the national quadrennial multi-sport event in 2001. The historic win was made by karate team winning the men’s team kata (amateurs) Kuok Kin-hang mass participation event.
The opening ceremony culminated at a variety show, with cutting-edged technologies such as VR, robots, GBA’s shared cultural roots and memories at play.
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This National Games is also the first such event cohosted by Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong. In total, this games comprise 34 sports events and 23 mass participation events, jointly hosting by 17 cities in Guangdong and the two special administrative regions. In total, 14,252 athletes are set to contest in 34 sports events, drawing over 3,000 journalists to cover the sports gala.
Earlier, Hong Kong government revealed that about 4,000 people – 2,100 athletes and 1,800 officials and supporting members, would partake in the eight sports events hosted in Hong Kong. In total, the mega sports gala is expected to draw 100,000 visitors to the city.
Hong Kong and Macao have fielded a large number of volunteers to the event. A record-breaking of over 160,000 volunteers, with 1,000 of them being aged 15 to 17, from Hong Kong are involved in the games. Macao organized over 3,500 volunteers to avail the sports gala.
Meanwhile, Wang Chung-wing, a member of Hong Kong’s Kwai Tsing District Council, who was at the stadium on Sunday, expressed profuse excitement at the much-anticipated presence of President Xi. “It was both a thrill and a true honor to witness this regional milestone alongside the president”, she said. “The ceremony filled me with visceral pride in being part of the Greater Bay Area and the nation in its prime.”
Im Io-teng, president of Macao Fujian Sports General Association, who was also at the ceremony, told China Daily that it was “of great significance” that people in Macao shared in the moment, whether taking part in person or watching at home.
He said the opening ceremony was “a prime opportune platform” to showcase Macao, including its UNESCO-honored world heritage sites, its unique cultural scene, and its overall prosperity rooted in its institutional strengths stemming from the “one country, two systems” framework.
While calling for broader participation from the people of Macao in the competition period, Im expressed his firm belief that such a national-level sports extravaganza of this scale offers the city’s residents a multi-faceted window into the nation’s latest development.
“From event hosting, venue selection, to the athletes’ performance, every aspect of the games reflects the progress and strength of the city and the country,” he said. “For people of Macao, active engagement in this nationwide grand event is expected to create a tangible linkage to the country’s growth, fostering a profound sense of national identity.”
In Hong Kong, the ceremony was live-streamed at shopping malls, with residents stopping to watch the show. Some malls also plan to live-stream sports events, with the sporting gala presenting an opportunity to draw in crowds.
