A delegation of the mainland Olympians concluded their three-day visit to Macau on Tuesday, after sharing its members’ weal and woe with local youngsters and athletes.
The delegation comprised 68 members, including 29 Olympic athletes from 11 sporting events who competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
During the delegation’s visit between Sunday and Tuesday, the athletes attended a string of public events such as a talk with local youngsters, visiting the city’s UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites, and taking part in various sports demonstrations.
It’s normal to fail but important to have confidence in overcoming difficulties: Ma
A heart-to-heart conversation between eight of the Olympic heroes and local youngsters and athletes was held at the Macau Stadium and Pavilion on Monday.
The athletes shared their rich experiences and great triumphs. One of the talking points was about facing failure and breaking through. Table tennis Grand Slam winner Ma Long said it was normal to fail, but stressed that it was important for young people to have confidence in themselves to overcome all difficulties.
The talk was amongst a series of activities on the second day of the delegation’s three-day visit to the MSAR that began on Sunday.
Local kids’ passion for sports hits new heights
On the last day of the delegation’s visit, the athletes were divided into three groups to visit three local community and social service centres managed by the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (Gung Luen), General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau (Kai Fong), and the Women’s Association of Macau (Fu Luen) .
During the visit, the athletes interacted with local residents in different activities such as table tennis, rice-dumpling making, dancing, and lion head craft-making. Children were asked by reporters about their feelings and thoughts after the athletes’ visit. A child surnamed Teng, who “played” table tennis with Ma holding his hand guiding his bat, said that he hoped to be as talented and accomplished as Ma. Another child surnamed Cheang said that she would now choose running as her favourite sport, after her interaction with Su Bingtian, the first Chinese sprinter to reach an Olympic 100-metre final. Most of the children that met the athletes were from primary schools.
Farewell Ceremony
The delegation attended a farewell ceremony at Galaxy Macau resort in Cotai on Tuesday afternoon. According to a statement by the Government Information Bureau (GCS), some of the members from the delegation departed from the local airport, while others left Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Top Olympians Xu Xin (left) and Ma Long (right) playing table tennis on the sidelines of Monday’s talk at the Macau Stadium and Pavilion in Taipa during the delegation’s three-day visit.
Olympic gold medallist Sun Yiwen creates a lion head with a local girl on Tuesday morning at a social service centre managed by the General Union of Neighbourhood Associations of Macau.
Sun Yiwen (left), Xu Xin (second from left) and fellow members of the delegation wave at local reporters during their farewell ceremony on Tuesday afternoon at Galaxy Macau in Cotai. Photos: Ula Cheang
