I'm sure you were all as enthralled as I was to watch the fabulous performances at the Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing on 8 August, and especially the unique way in which the cauldron was ignited. That same evening, a mini-cauldron was also lit at the Olympic equestrian arena in Sha Tin, and the following day Hong Kong's first ever Olympic events got under way.
So far, the equestrian competitions have gone very smoothly, and I'm delighted that many of the participating athletes and spectators have praise the world-class facilities at our equestrian venues at Sha Tin and Beas River. It tells us that the huge efforts the Club has put into constructing the equestrian venues and providing support for this historic event have all been worthwhile. We have also helped to showcase the equestrian events and take Hong Kong on to the world stage, and that gives me a great feeling of "mission accomplished".
At the Sha Tin venue on Tuesday night we also witnessed the moment when the first Olympic medals were presented in Hong Kong. For me, the evening became even more special as Das Deutschlandlied, the national anthem of Germany, was played not one but twice in the Olympic equestrian arena, after the German team and Hinrich Romeike won the team and individual eventing gold medals respectively.
I've been tracking their performances at Sha Tin and Beas River over the past few days and I must say that it was a great team effort by the German riders and their horses. Romeike has done especially well as he's a dentist by profession and only competes in equestrian sport as an amateur. The Chief Executive Officer of the German Equestrian Federation, Dr Hanfried Haring, who is also one of my good friends, has invited me to attend their celebration party. So I got the chance to congratulate Romeike and the other German team members in person. Adding to the third gold medal that the German equestrian team won in the team dressage event last night, all these medals were some perfect gifts for Dr Haring, as he will be retiring later this year.
I must also offer praise to the other individual eventing medallists, silver medal winner Gina Miles from the United States and bronze medallist Kristina Cook from Britain. Equestrian is one of the few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms, and these two superb female riders clearly demonstrated here that they are every bit as capable as their male counterparts.
I could understand that for some spectators, they might find it a bit difficult to understand the competition in the very first day, eventually leaving the games early or taking photos of their own at the equestrian venue. I saw that they still enjoyed not only from a narrow sense of the equestrian sport, but also treasure the chance to experience and fully enjoy themselves in the Olympic atmosphere and environment, in the venue created by our Club.
I've been delighted to see the spectators have been increasingly involved in the contest as some of them have shuttled to and from different spots to watch the performances of different participating horses and athletes in the cross-country eventing programme at Beas River on Monday. And on Tuesday, many of the 10,000 spectators who have attended the Sha Tin events, including many local residents as well as equestrian fans from all over the world, have remained staying in the arena even when the medal presentation ceremony was held in the midnight. They all have definitely enjoyed watching these top-class equestrian performances and got very much involved in the contest, creating a great atmosphere.
Tonight sees the start of the show jumping competition, which to me is the most interesting part of the equestrian events, and our own Hong Kong equestrian team – Patrick Lam, Samantha Lam and Kenneth Cheng – will be taking part in the opening event, the Individual 1st Qualifier. So I hope you all will save your biggest cheers and support for these local debutants there tonight.
Comment
