World University Games: Hong Kong’s athletes savour record medal haul as Chengdu bids farewell
- Closing ceremony at Chengdu Outdoor Music Park features 600 performers and a theme of ‘dreams, lighting up the future’
- 12 medals, including four gold, give Hong Kong team their best ever showing at the Games
Chengdu brought the curtain down on the World University Games on Tuesday evening after 13 days of multisport competition that yielded a record medal haul for Hong Kong.
The closing ceremony saw the southwestern Chinese city bid farewell to thousands of athletes from more than 150 countries and regions, who had competed in 269 events across 18 sports.
Among them were Hong Kong’s largest ever delegation of 142, who duly returned their best performance in the Games’ history. They joined the festivities at Chengdu Outdoor Music Park, where 600 performers were poised to put on a 70-minute ceremony with a theme of “dreams, lighting up the future”.
According to the organisers, the stage was designed to depict the screens of 31 mobile phones – symbolising the Games’ 31st edition – seen from the perspective of a blogger.
Fifteen years earlier to the day, the Beijing Olympics had begun at 8.08pm on the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, making maximum use of a lucky number. By August 8 this year, the numbers 12 and four held special resonance for the Hong Kong team as they struck lucky with 12 medals, including four gold.
