CE congratulates achievements of Hong Kong athletes in Asian Para Games

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (October 14) extended her congratulations to Hong Kong athletes on achieving the best ever results in the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games, noting that their distinguished performance and sportsmanship are most encouraging.

     "The Hong Kong team won a record-breaking total of 48 medals, comprising 11 gold medals, 16 silver medals and 21 bronze medals. Breakthroughs were achieved in some areas including winning the gold medal for the first time in boccia and breaking the Asian Para Games record and the Asian record in swimming. Their achievements are most heartening.

     "Since my tenure as the Director of Social Welfare, I have been supporting the participation by persons with disabilities in sports to demonstrate their talents. In this Asian Para Games, athletes of the Hong Kong team, as in the past, fought hard and persevered in competitions. They have earned the admiration of all Hong Kong people and made us proud. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government will certainly continue to allocate resources to support sports development for persons with disabilities," Mrs Lam said.

     On the support by the HKSAR Government for persons with disabilities in sports development, a budget of $70 million has been earmarked for 2018-19, representing an increase of 50 per cent compared to last year, which includes the support for disabled athletes to prepare for and participate in large-scale sports events, and the organisation of large-scale local sports activities for them. Furthermore, the Government has completed the consultancy study and public consultation on Sport for People with Disabilities in Hong Kong and will implement the recommendations gradually, including providing full-time training for athletes with disabilities. Also, the Government will enhance venue facilities to enable the hosting of sports activities for persons with disabilities, and allocate extra funding for relevant national sports associations to organise outreach programmes in workshops and institutions to provide more opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in sports.