HK sends 15 athletes to Dakar Youth Olympic Games

Hong Kong will be represented by 15 athletes at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal. The Games commence in the coming months and will feature around 2,700 athletes from more than 200 countries, competing in 25 sports across 153 medal events. The Hong Kong delegation, comprising 10 boys and five girls, will participate in 12 sports: athletics, swimming, badminton, boxing, cycling, breakdancing, fencing, rowing, table tennis, triathlon, windsurfing, and wushu.

Fencer Harris Ho, 17, credits his performance at the Nagoya Asian Games for equipping him to excel in future major competitions. He aspires to outperform Ryan Choi, who won silver in the last Youth Olympics. Wushu, making its Olympic debut, has been included as a medal sport for the first time. Poon Hao-ran, 15, a two-time gold medalist at the World Taijiquan Championships, views representing Hong Kong at the Youth Olympics as a dream fulfilled.

He expresses gratitude to his coach for training him to this level and aims to perform at his peak during the Games. The flag-presentation ceremony for the Hong Kong delegation took place on Tuesday, attended by Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law and other sports officials. The Youth Olympic Games last took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2018. Originally scheduled for 2022, the Dakar Games were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.