The government announced on Tuesday (10th) five new measures to support sports, including early application to the Legislative Council for funding for the new building of the Sports Institute, and the opening of the new building before the opening of the next Olympic Games.
It is good news that the new building is expected to open in advance, but the sports hospitals and even the government continue to ignore the long-term medical and living support for elite athletes.
This raises a question: Why do sports institutes and the government care about the bitterness of athletes?
Behind the success of the Olympics, athletes have worked hard for many years.
In recent years, resources for training elite athletes have indeed increased. The outside world believes that new resources can alleviate their difficulties. However, judging from the recent sharing of Chairman Lin Dahui and many athletes, the resources are far from sufficient.
The new building has been delayed for four years before it can be launched
In terms of training, Lin Dahui mentioned that the current fencing halls are not adequate, and that when the floor is damaged, it can only be repaired with adhesive tape.
The Hong Kong team badminton representative Deng Junwen pointed out that the air-conditioning wind direction of the stadium will affect the direction of the badminton, so most of the air-conditioning needs to be turned off during training, which makes the stadium sultry and hot.
In terms of accommodation, Lin Dahui said that the hostels are almost full, and when the number of elite athletes increases in the future, the accommodation cannot be guaranteed.
Carrie Lam also inspected the facilities of the Sports Institute and the land where it plans to build a new facility building while watching the Hong Kong athletes' competition at the Sports Institute.
(Information Services Department)
The proposal for building an additional building was formulated as early as the first half of 2017, and it was considered by the Home Affairs Committee of the Legislative Council in December 2019. It is only now that it is “fortunate” to apply for funding from the Finance Committee in advance. It has been discussed for more than two years; Taking into account the construction period of more than two years, it took seven years before and after the completion of the new building, which is too slow.
If the government can reach a consensus with the Institute of Physical Education sooner and solicit members to prioritize discussions on projects, the new building will have a great opportunity to help athletes prepare for the Paris Olympics.
Insufficient medical manpower talks about industrialization
Time misses are hard to make up, and hardware problems are hard to solve all at once.
In contrast, athletes have low salaries and shortages of team members. In fact, they are not limited by equipment and should be handled more flexibly, but this is not the case in reality.
Fencing representative Zhang Xiaolun shared that for the first two years of being a full-time athlete, the monthly training subsidy for his salary was only 2,930 yuan. The racing representative Cheng Xiaoya finished 35th in the Olympics. The monthly subsidy for the next year may be reduced from 26,000 to more than 10,000. Yuan.
Deng Junwen’s partner, Xie Yingxue, was dissatisfied with the physical therapists and masseurs in the sports hospital. He also pointed out that there are only two coaches for badminton, and one of them will return to Taiwan.
The fencing hall now has 13 kendos, which makes it difficult to accommodate the ever-expanding fencing team.
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The period mentioned by Zhang Xiaolun was more than ten years ago, when he was at the elementary elite level, but this does not mean that the current subsidy has returned to a reasonable level. For example, the full-time monthly subsidy for the youth group B is up to 6,210 yuan, and the adult elite The full-time monthly subsidy for Level C is up to RMB 13,550.
Funding is the motivation for bidding, and athletes can be exempted from boarding and lodging expenses in sports hospitals, but the amount cannot be too low, and they always have to deal with daily expenses or additional medical and equipment expenses.
Athletes of Group B and Group C are in the upper stage. If they want to supplement their life and family with part-time job, it will definitely hurt their performance in the competition.
It can be said that the government's subsidy to the first-class elites through the sports academy is more than enough. Then, efforts should be made to increase the salaries of the athletes in Groups B and C so that they can concentrate on training and competition.
When the government is determined to industrialize sports, it is ironic that elite athletes complain about the lack of the most basic paramedical talents.
How long can athletes survive the competition before they are even healed?
They are fighting for Hong Kong, so we should take good care of their bodies.
If Hong Kong lacks sports physiotherapists and other personnel, universities will need to provide more training.
Cheng Xiaoya crossed the line in 1 hour, 37 minutes and 53 seconds and finished the women's 20-kilometer race with a total ranking of 35.
(Photo of Mr. Tian, Hong Kong)
The upper and lower levels of the sports academy are also facing various problems every day, or have repeatedly reported to the sports academy's management and government departments.
If it weren't for many outsiders to pay attention to the athletes' condition, their experience might not be taken squarely until the moment they retire.
The government’s early application for the new building of the Sports Institute is just one step. The Home Affairs Bureau, which is responsible for sports policies, must enter the Sports Institute to understand the flaws in the software and hardware of the Sports Institute and improve as soon as it can.
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