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The Hong Kong Jockey Club has always supported the development of our local athletes. During the Riding High Together Festival that was held over the Easter holidays, the Club announced a donation of more than HK$18 million to the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) to support the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, which encourages local athletes and teams to strive for success in major competitions.

This year is an Olympic year, and the Riding High Together Festival had as its theme “Let’s Cheer for Sportsmanship”. One of the major events of the festival was the “Riding High Together for a World Record – The Longest Paper Chain of Cheering Messages”, which brought together over 1,000 primary and secondary students in a collaborative effort to complete a paper chain that measured 3,745.38 metres in length. After verification by a Guinness World Records adjudicator, it was announced that they had set a new record for the world’s longest paper chain of cheering messages in one hour by a team. It was a wonderful way to cheer on the Hong Kong athletes!

More recently, the Club created a giant commemorative board that has been on display in the HKSI lobby since late July to cheer on our Hong Kong athletes participating in the Rio Olympics and Paralympics. The Club’s Progressing Together Cheering Team’s Mr Fit was also on hand to give a cheer.

The Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme aims to support the all-round development of local athletes by providing cash incentives to recognise those who earn glory for Hong Kong by winning gold, silver or bronze medals in six major competitions, including the Olympics and Paralympics. Cash rewards will also go to athletes finishing between fourth and eighth in the Olympics and Paralympics, with a souvenir award to be presented to the entire team as recognition of their achievement. 

To enable athletes and coaches to concentrate on their sporting careers, the Club has donated more than HK$700 million to HKSI, including providing an endowment of HK$200 million to establish a trust fund in 1992 that is now known as the HKJC Elite Athletes Fund and includes the Athlete High Performance Programmes and Athlete Career-Path Programmes. More recently, over the last decade, the Club has contributed more than HK$1.6 billion to support sports development. In 2013, the Club contributed over HK$100 million to the HKSI to redevelop its former athletes’ hostel into the Jockey Club Sports Building for elite athletes and coaches. This year, the Club further funded a HK$9.7 million Coach Education Programme at the HKSI.  All of the Club’s support for the development of facilities and talent will help the Hong Kong sports community take their place on the international stage.