
Hong Kong spent HK$823 million on its athletes in 2023-24. Here's where it went
Advertisement
The taxpayer-funded organisation's outlay supported 1,443 senior and junior athletes, 620 of whom it listed as being full-time, during a period when the city won 53 medals at the Asian Games.
Hong Kong also collected 47 medals at the Asian Para Games, 12 at the World University Games and 33 at various world championships.
According to the HKSI report, a breakdown of the HK$822.9 million included HK$176 million in payments to athletes under the 'direct financial support scheme' and HK$646.9 million for athletes' training programmes, sports science and medicine support, lifestyle provisions and education subsidies for the athletes.
The Asian Games of 2023 were the city's best in terms of total medals won – albeit that it took 680 athletes, 100 more than went to the previous edition in 2018, and earned the same tally of eight gold medals.
Siobhan Haughey was among Hong Kong's gold medallists at the Asian Games in 2023. Photo: AFP
Topping the podium were Siobhan Haughey – twice – in swimming, fencer Cheung Ka-long, Taichi Kho in golf, men's rowers Lam San-tung and Wong Wai-chun, cyclist Yang Qianyu, the men's rugby sevens team and the men's bridge team.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


RTHK
5 hours ago
- RTHK
Sinner and Sabalenka start title defence with wins
Sinner and Sabalenka start title defence with wins Jannik Sinner competes for the first time since winning Wimbledon back in July. Photo: Reuters Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defences off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men's and women's top seeds, each ranked number one in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon – where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women's semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka won the opening set in 54 minutes, but the second set was more of a grind than the score suggested as she saved five break points for a 4-1 lead and recovered from 0-30 down in the final game before securing the win. "She pushed me to the limit. If you lose focus even a little bit it can cost you a set. I had to fight for every point against her," said Sabalenka, who next faces Britain's Emma Raducanu, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Olga Danilovic. Meanwhile Sinner outclassed Colombia's Galan with 17 winners and just four unforced errors. Sinner won the opening five games in 15 minutes as he allowed his 144th-ranked opponent, who came through qualifying, little breathing room. The victory in 59 minutes was the fastest of Sinner's ATP career, beating his previous quickest by one minute. "Today I was finding my spots but there is still a little room to improve. For a first match it could not have gone better," said Sinner. After snapping up the first set Sinner broke to start the second before Galan clawed out a hold in a seven-minute game in which he fought off five break points. But it was only a momentary reprieve. Sinner fired three aces to hold for 3-1 as he roared away again for the victory. (AFP)


RTHK
2 days ago
- RTHK
Shelton downs Khachanov, claims Toronto Masters crown
Shelton downs Khachanov, claims Toronto Masters crown Ben Shelton took down Karen Khachanov after two hours and 47 minutes of nail-biting action. Photo: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images American Ben Shelton won the biggest title of his career on Thursday, rallying to beat Russian Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to win the ATP Toronto Masters. The 22-year-old world number seven used his powerful serve to fuel the emotional comeback victory, firing 16 aces on the way to his maiden Masters 1000 title. (AFP)


RTHK
3 days ago
- RTHK
Top two seeds fall as Khachanov and Shelton make final
Top two seeds fall as Khachanov and Shelton make final Karen Khachanov was just one point away from losing to Alexander Zverev before rallying to reach his first final of the year. Photo: Reuters Karen Khachanov rallied to defeat top seed Alexander Zverev and booked an ATP Toronto Masters title clash with Ben Shelton, who beat second seeded Taylor Fritz. Khachanov fought back from 3-1 down in the final-set tiebreaker on Wednesday to beat Zverev 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4). Shelton, seeded fourth, hammered Fritz 6-4, 6-3 in the first All-American Masters 1000 semi-final in 15 years to book the fifth, and most important, ATP final of his career. Russia's Khachanov, seeded 11th, had lost two previous semi-finals in Canada. But he dug deep to advance, saving a match point as he levelled the deciding set at 6-6, with world number three Zverev hammering a backhand into the top tape of the net. The German committed 44 unforced errors in the nearly three-hour defeat while Khachanov had 29 winners and 34 unforced errors. "I had to work out this match, dig deep and try my best," Khachanov said. "It was very demanding physically and mentally. "We've had a lot of matches and I'm happy to beat him after losing some easy ones," added Khachanov, who fell to Zverev in the Tokyo Olympic singles final. "Today was a tough one – I was match point down. I'm just happy things went on my side at the end." Khachanov will be playing his first final of the season after semi-final defeats in Barcelona and Halle. Shelton and Fritz had to wait out a brief delay when a problem with the electronic line calling system emerged as they took the court. But that was barely a blip for 22-year-old Shelton, the world number seven, who had beaten Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals and with the win over Fritz notched his first back-to-back victories over top 10 opponents. US Open finalist Fritz had to save four break points in the third game of the match and was broken in the ninth game to leave Shelton to serve for the set. Shelton seized a second break for a 3-2 lead in the second, landing a perfect lob over Fritz's head and held at love for a 5-3 lead. He closed out the masterclass in with another break, Fritz mangling his racquet over his knee after he double faulted on match point. "I'm happy with my level and how I executed," Shelton said. "I've seen so many big improvements in my game this week. That's what I'm most happy about, how I'm executing, how little I'm hesitating." (AFP)