The 2024 Paris Olympic Games Mainland Olympians delegation, which arrived in Macau on Saturday via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge for its three-day visit, met and interacted yesterday morning with 600 young local athletes at the Olympic Sports Centre in Taipa, where they told them “to trust their teammates, not to be afraid of adversity, and to give their all to their favourite sports”.
The delegation stayed in the Taipa’s Olympic Sports Centre for about an hour, during which mainland Olympians and eight coaches from 16 sporting events sat together with the local athletes, while the eight gold medallists, including paddler Ma Long, diver Quan Hongchan and freestyle swimmer Pan Zhanle, had dialogues and exchanges with four local athletes on the stage.
When asked how they have managed to remain at the top of their game despite pressure and injuries, Ma said: “When you find something you’re passionate about, you will go all out and hope to make it the best …… after playing for so many years, I still have the pursuit and dream of table tennis which I hope to be able to continue to win glory for the country in the Olympic Games”. He also talked about the various difficulties and challenges encountered during his training: “For example, in the case of injury, we must first thank the [General Administration of Sport] for providing us with very good backup support, so that we can recover and resume training and competition more quickly. At the same time, our coaches and fellow athletes, as well as my family and friends, have also given me a lot of encouragement in difficult times, all of which help me get back on the right path”.
Artistic gymnast Liu Yang, who underwent knee surgery in 2022, encouraged local athletes to overcome the psychological barrier: “I was injured doing the rings, and then I had a mental shadow when I did it afterwards…… The main thing is to believe in yourself and the team and try to overcome the mental barrier”.
Pan, who was once unable to rotate his right shoulder fully forward after the Asian Games, said his first expectation was to prevent any other injuries and the next step was to do his best to break through his 100-metre freestyle record of 46.40 seconds and show the world, including himself, the limits of mankind in the event: “I’m going to do my best to break through to the next level in the 100-metre freestyle, and to show the world, including myself, where the limits of mankind are in this event”.
When asked how to adjust to failure, Quan said: “Don’t be anxious, communicate with your coach and take time to solve the problem”.
After the exchange session, five female artistic gymnastics team gold medallists Guo Qiqi, Hao Ting, Huang Zhangjiayang, Wang Lanjing and Ding Xinyi, Olympic table tennis men’s singles and women’s singles gold medallists Fan Zhendong and Chen Meng, as well as the first Chinese table tennis Olympic mixed doubles champions Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha gave on-site lessons to local youths.
The delegation visited yesterday afternoon the three revitalisation districts of Barra, the Rua da Felicidade pedestrianisation zone and the Mount Fortress in three groups.
Meanwhile, the government hosted a banquet on Saturday night to welcome the delegation headed by Gao Zhidan, director of the State General Administration of Sports, during which Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng expressed his gratitude to the central government for arranging the delegation to visit Macau once again, giving local residents an opportunity to experience the style of the athletes close up and, at the same time, he also urged local youths and athletes to take the national athletes as their role models, learn from the national Olympians’ spirit of tenacity, hard work, and patriotism, and carry forward the spirit of sports and the spirit of the times.
Ho presented a cheque for HK$16 million on behalf of each donor organisation, including the city’s six integrated resort (IR) operators, which was accepted by representatives of the delegation Fan Zhendong and Chen Yiwen.
Members of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Mainland Olympians delegation, including eight gold medalists – boxer Li Qian (second from left), synchronised swimmer Feng Yu (fourth from left), freestyle swimmer Pan Zhanle (fifh from left), diver Quan Hongchan (seventh from left), paddler Ma Long (eighth from left), artistic gymnast Liu Yang (fifth from right), diver Cao Yuan (fourth from right) and rhythmic gymnast Guo Qiqi (second from right) interact with local youth athletes on the stage during yesterday’s exchange session at the Olympic Sports Centre in Taipa. – Photo: Yuki Lei
Men’s singles and women’s singles gold medallists Fan Zhendong (right) and Chen Meng (left) as well as two local paddlers play mixed doubles after yesterday’s exchange session at the Olympic Sports Centre in Taipa. – Photo: Yuki Lei
