As the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games draw to a close this weekend, Hong Kong’s extraordinary athletes continue to fill our city with immense pride and admiration with the performances of our talented boccia teams.
Overnight, Ho Yuen-Kei claimed her second gold medal of the Games alongside Tse Tak-wah with a 5-3 victory over South Korea’s Jeong Ho-won and Kang Sun-hee in the boccia BC3 mixed pairs event, while Annie Cheung and Leung Yuk-wing won silver in the boccia BC4 mixed pairs final with a 1-6 loss to Colombian pair Leidy and Edilson Chica Chica.
Ho Yuen-kei is Hong Kong, China’s most successful athlete at these Games with two gold medals, having also won her individual event.
Overall, Team Hong Kong has secured eight medals at these Games – three gold, four silver and one bronze, which is a wonderful effort – and also topped the Games boccia medal table.
Kei’s mindset is at the core of her stunning achievements. Competing at her third Paralympics, Kei was disappointed at not winning gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2021 and worked even harder leading into Paris, sacrificing time with family and friends.
Wah adopted a similar approach during his preparation and the pair’s dedication was rewarded with a strong opening end which proved decisive against the South Koreans on the way to claiming the gold medal.
Annie and Wing also performed admirably in their final and Annie, in particular, gained vital experience at her first Games alongside Wing, who was competing at his sixth Paralympics.
These wonderful displays follow the gold medal-winning feats of John Loung, who won the men’s BC1 boccia final 4-1and many other inspiring performances in Paris, including Cheung Yuen securing a silver medal in the women’s BC4 boccia final, Chan Ho Yuen collecting silver in the men’s WH2 badminton final, swimmer Chan Yui-lam winning the silver medal in the women’s S14 100m butterfly final and outstanding teenaged swimmer Jasmine Ng Cheuk-yan snaring the bronze medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6.
There have also been several other incredible performances, including Chu Man-kai, who finished fourth the in the SH6 badminton tournament.
Competing with great determination and commitment, our athletes have displayed Hong Kong’s signature ‘Can-Do’ spirit – mirroring the towering achievements of Vivian Kong, Edgar Cheung and Siobhan Haughey at last month’s Paris Olympic Games.
The Club is delighted that, as a longstanding supporter of Hong Kong athletes, our Paralympians will receive HK$12 million for their achievements so far in Paris under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme (JCAIAS).
Kei will receive HK$1,500,000 for her individual gold and will share HK$3 million Tse Tak-wah for the team gold medal triumph.
These awards are well deserved and the Club, riding on its unique integrated business model, is committed to encouraging everyone to become more engaged with sport. Whether as a spectator or as an active participant and preferably both, we can all take heart from Hong Kong’s ‘Play To Win’ as so brilliantly demonstrated by our Paralympic and Olympic athletes.
Despite the difficult economic challenges, the Club is determined to maintain its strong support for the community, contributing a record HK$40.1 billion during the 2023/24 financial year. This comprised a record HK$29.9 billion in betting duty, profits tax and Lotteries Fund contributions, and HK$10.2 billion in approved charity donations – also a new record.
This performance underlined the Club’s tremendous resilience, especially after dealing with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are now dealing with an extremely challenging macro-economic environment as well as significant changes in customer behaviour as they seek out new experiences online or in outbound destinations. Despite this, the Club has continued to deliver outstanding racing entertainment and the strongest support for our community.
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