Good time management and
planning is key to making the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events in
Hong Kong a success, said Lam Woon-kwong, the boss of HK Equestrian Events
Company here on Thursday.
Lam said Hong Kong has a wealth of experience in staging international events
but it's the first time for them to run an Olympic equestrian event, especially
with less than three years to prepare.
Lam said: "Among the 28 sports in the summer Olympics, equestrian events are
the most complicated. The decision to move the equestrian games from Beijing was
made last July, so time for preparation is tight and we have to race against
time.
"But with government and community co-operation and support, I am confident
the Olympics equestrian games to be staged here will be a success," said he.
To better understand the organization, preparation and operation of such
events, Lam led a team Thursday to a one-week tour to the World Equestrian Games
2006 in Aachen, Germany, which is the biggest equestrian event before the 2008
Olympics.
Lam said the visit will focus on the cross-country contest, including
programme rundown, crowd management, security, medical services, adjudication
and media arrangements.
"The 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events will last three weeks.
Compared with jumping and dressage, the cross-country test in eventing is more
difficult and demanding. For audiences, the cross-country test is the most
interesting, but for us it is the most intricate in terms of arrangement.
Therefore, the event requires thorough preparation, flawless arrangement and
sufficient safety measures.
"Hong Kong has extensive experience in horse racing. However, the sport is
entirely different from equestrian games. Take dressage for example, competitors
are judged on their display of horsemanship skills as they dance their horses to
the music using a series of commands for walk, trot and canter. Hosting the
Olympic equestrian events is a challenge for Hong Kong."
The Olympic equestrian games will comprise three disciplines - dressage, show
jumping and eventing - involving up to 220 horses. Six sets of medals will be
fought for in the three disciplines' individual and team events. About 80 horses
will compete in the Paralympic Games.
To bring in the horses, discussions with the International Federation for
Equestrian Sports on the detailed arrangements are underway.
Lam said: "In the past six months, we have been working meticulously on the
quarantine protocol, trying to strike a balance among different stakeholders. We
have come to a stage where almost all agree with the detailed arrangements,
which are being fine-tuned and will be announced before the end of this year,"
He said that Hong Kong has good experience and credentials in equine health.
The city's hot and humid summer weather should not pose serious problems for the
animals.
"Judging from past Olympic equestrian games, high temperature is not a
problem. Humidity may be a concern but Kuala Lumpur always hosts world
equestrian events despite its hot and humid weather, and participating horses
have not presented any health problems so far.
"The important thing is to make arrangements for horses to cool down in the
shortest possible time after the games. We will make sure such facilities are in
order."
Lam also revealed that they are thinking of renting a hotel instead of
building a athletes village.
"The hotel's facilities will have to meet International Olympic Committee
requirements and it must be in a location convenient for athletes to travel to
the competition venues in Sha Tin and Sheung Shui, " said Lam.
So far the closest challenge for Hong Kong is a test event, which will be
held next August, one year before the Olympics, to test various aspects of the
games, such as competition venues, accreditation, transportation, medical
services and event management.
"Although the scale of the test event will only be one-tenth of the Olympic
equestrian games, the test run will help us find out problems and have them
fixed early. The test event is also one of our work priorities," added Lam.
