It has been a decade-long tradition for the national delegation to visit Hong Kong and Macao after an Olympic Games. This was their seventh visit and residents of the two SARs were still very excited to receive their sports heroes - a good indication of their rising popularity. Whenever national Olympians visit the two SARs, it creates an emotional frenzy, bringing a joyful and festive atmosphere to the local communities.
In the past week, whenever the Olympic stars appeared in public and exchange activities in the two SARs, they were enthusiastically cheered by hundreds of supporters of different ages inside and outside the venues. 
Like their previous visits, the delegation had a packed schedule. During their 5-day visit to the two SARs, they attended different functions such as gala shows to demonstrate their skills, press conferences to answer media questions and sightseeing, as well as interactions with students, local young athletes, civil servants and other sectors in the community. The press captured some of them taking a nap on a charter bus. Despite the fatigue, the national Olympians were competent goodwill ambassadors. Their amusing demonstrations and funny Cantonese greetings won laughter and friendship.
There are reasons why elite sports athletes have enjoyed high esteem in Chinese society. Since Xu Haifeng became China’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the nation has spent 40 years transforming itself from an inexperienced participant to a dominant force in international athletics.
Having benefited from the reform and open-up policy starting in the late 1970s, the great improvement in the nation’s economy has enabled China to plan and invest unprecedentedly in sports infrastructure, training methodologies, sports science, nutrition and psychology to enhance athlete development.
Furthermore, the strong determination of the central government to develop sports and the nationwide interest in athletics have also helped quicken the nation’s transformation into a sports powerhouse.
China’s success in hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games has eventually earned her a reputation as a leading force in international sports, both in athletic competitiveness and event management.
Commendably, besides holding advantages in their traditionally strong disciplines such as table tennis and diving, the national sports strategy to diversify in new areas such as athletics, swimming, tennis and cycling has finally paid off. Dated back to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Su Bingtian set a new Asian record in the men’s 100m dash with a time of 9.83 seconds in the semifinals to become the first Chinese sprinter to qualify for the final. His personal best performance makes him the 10th-fastest man in the history of 100m dash at the Olympics.
At the just concluded Paris Olympics, Chinese athletes continued to excel and made several historic breakthroughs in many new events, including tennis, swimming, BMX, boxing, rhythmic gymnastics and artistic swimming. China tied the United States for the most gold medals, but finished second in the overall medal table with 40 golds, 27 silvers and 24 bronzes, achieving its best-ever results at an overseas Olympics. Nevertheless, Hong Kong SAR is part of the big Chinese family, Hong Kong elite athletes also won two golds and two bronzes in Paris. So, in essence, the Chinese athletes got the most gold medals in the Paris Olympics.
It is particularly worth noting that swimmer Pan Zhanle snatched gold in the men’s 100m freestyle, breaking the world record he had previously set. He also helped the national team break the US’ 64-year reign over the men’s 4x100m medley relay. Zheng Qinwen made history for the country after defeating Croatia’s Donna Vekic to become the first Chinese player to win gold in an Olympic tennis singles event. Swimming and tennis are typically the fortes of Americans and Europeans.
Hong Kong’s standing in international athletics has also surged after its return to China in 1997. It was that year the “one country, two systems” policy was implemented to realize a peaceful reunification and ensure the prosperity of the HKSAR. As far as sports development is concerned, the central government allows HKSAR to retain the right to send its regional team of athletes to compete in the Olympics and other international tournaments alongside the national team. This is the privilege the city has been enjoying since 1954 when Hong Kong was still under British rule. However, before the 1997 handover Hong Kong only produced one Olympic golden girl when Lee Lai Shan won a windsurfing championship at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
In contrast, the HKSAR’s sports development has been flourishing after 1997 because of several reasons – greater support of the central government, stronger determination of the HKSAR government to reform sports funding and management, much closer interaction and collaboration between the mainland and local sports professionals such as sharing of facilities and mutual training, sending budding athletes and outstanding coaches to Hong Kong from the mainland to help uplift the overall standard of Hong Kong elite sports.
Such favorable factors have enabled Hong Kong to excel in its elite sports standard tremendously. Statistics show that Hong Kong snatched 12 Olympic medals and 247 Asian Games medals since 1997, including 3 gold Olympic medals and 40 Asian Games gold medals. Edgar Cheung Ka-long won a foil fencing gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He succeeded in defending his men’s foil individual title in Paris, making him the first-ever athlete to have clinched two gold Olympic medals in Hong Kong history. Vivian Kong Man-wai also became the first local woman fencer to win an Olympic individual epee gold medal in Paris. To put the icing on the cake, Siobhan Haughey bagged two bronzes in the women’s 100m and 200m freestyle swimming events. The “flying fish” won two silvers in the same events in the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first-ever local athlete to have clinched the most Olympic medals in Hong Kong history.
Like their counterparts from the national team, local sports heros are also Hong Kong residents’ favorites. Having endeavored for 27 years with exceptional performances in international sports, Hong Kong’s elite athletes enjoy a high respect from the public. We praise our athletes’ perseverance and fighting spirit in competition as the exemplification of “the Hong Kong Spirit”. Whenever the local authorities organize a welcome home ceremony and meet-and-greet bus parade to celebrate their triumphant return, the scenes are always heart-warming.
A survey conducted by the think tank Bauhinia Institute early this month justified the rising popularity of national and local sports heroes. It revealed that over 80 percent of Hong Kong residents feel proud of the performance of both the national and Hong Kong delegations in Paris.
In essence, the excellent achievements of mainland and Hong Kong Olympians over the years have fostered a culture of pride and patriotism. A nation needs heroes to unite its people and the elite athletes across the boundary have been playing an excellent role in inspiring patriotic passion and national spirit.
We look forward to seeing more exciting moments when our sports heroes across the boundary make breakthroughs in new events in international tournaments, making the name of the big Chinese family more shining.
The author, a Hong Kong-based freelance writer, is an adviser to the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
