Young people can become champions in Hong Kong, live up to Olympic ideals, John Lee says

Gold medallist Vivian Kong also addresses youth summit, saying she once struggled to find her purpose as she pursued fencing career

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Star fencer Vivian Kong (centre) holds up her gold medal at the youth summit. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 12:37pm, 10 Aug 2024Updated: 10:39pm, 10 Aug 2024

Hong Kong is a great place for young people to become champions and live up to the Olympic motto of being “faster, higher, stronger – together”, the city’s leader has said at a high-powered youth summit, urging youngsters to believe in themselves and trust their instincts.

Olympic gold medallist and épéeist Vivian Kong Man-wai also said at the Saturday event that she had once struggled to find her purpose while pursuing her fencing career, making her first public comments since taking up a new role at the city’s largest charity organisation.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who opened the summit, said every Hong Kong athlete who took part in the Paris Games had shown great determination, unwavering effort, energy, passion and strong team spirit – all valuable attributes of the “Hong Kong spirit”.

He also said the city’s athletes had made “historic progress” by winning two gold and two bronze medals at the Games, which are set to end on Sunday.

“The unyielding professionalism and sportsmanship shown by every one of them has made us proud,” he said.

“While we can’t all be Olympic champions, we can all be champions of our own stories. We can all live [up to] the spirit of the Olympic motto of ‘faster, higher, stronger – together’ in our pursuits.”