Hong Kong students who talked with Chinese mainland Olympians face to face on Friday said they were inspired by the sports stars’ perseverance and pledged to study hard to follow their example.
Following their triumphs at the Paris Olympics, a delegation of mainland elite athletes arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday, kicking off their three-day exchanges with people in the city.
On Friday morning, the delegation was split into different groups to attend different public events.
Quan Hongchan, a two-time Olympian and three-time gold medal winner for diving, and Chen Meng, who clinched golds in women’s single and team competitions in table tennis in Paris, and several other national athletes visited St Paul’s College to meet with students from local schools.
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.
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The athletes spent around 1.5 hours at the school, talking to students and teachers and participating in group photos.
Quan, Chen and the other athletes smiled and waved at residents and reporters when they left the campus and boarded the bus.
Sam Huang, a student from Sing Yin Secondary School, told China Daily that the athletes had shared their experiences during the face-to-face session, and had talked about some of the difficulties they had had to overcome during the Olympics. He said the Olympians also answered questions raised by Hong Kong students and participated in playing games with them.
Huang said that their sharing was impressive and helped him to understand some of the challenges that athletes have to face when training and participating in sports meetings, such as overcoming injuries and illness.
Sofia Tse, a 14-year-old student at St. Stephen's Girls' College, also attended the sharing session. Tse told China Daily that she loves playing badminton, and that the spirit of perseverance she saw in the athletes had really moved her.
Tse said she was also impressed by how the athletes had been able to achieve so much success at such a young age. “They are already world champions when at my age,” said Tse.
“I am honored to have had the chance to meet the athletes of the national team today, and I hope that in the future there will be more exchanges and cooperation between athletes from Hong Kong and the mainland,” Tse added.
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.
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After waiting a further 1.5 hours in temperatures of over 30 C, Liu finally got to see Quan walk out of the building and had a brief chat with the diving star. However, he could not take a photo with Quan because of the crowds and the athlete’s tight schedule.
“But she told me that she will take a photo with me next time, and I still think the waiting time was worthwhile,” Liu said.
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 also inspired him to study hard.
Also on Friday morning, one of the groups of national athletes engaged in exchanges with representatives from the city’s disciplined services, while another group visited the Hong Kong Sports Institute to meet local athletes.
The delegation reunited to have lunch with officials from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, then boarded the Peak Tram to enjoy views of the city in the afternoon.
The national Olympians will participate in the Mainland Olympians Gala Show at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium on Friday night.
