10 April 2021, Hong Kong: The Awardees of the “Cathay Pacific 2019 Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards” (HKSSA) were finally revealed at Freespace of West Kowloon Cultural District. The highlights of the Awards were the crowning of LEE Wai Sze Sarah (Cycling) for the “Best of the Best” Award for the sixth time and KONG Man Wai Vivian (Fencing) winning the newly introduced category “Hong Kong Sports Stars Breakthrough of the Year Awards”. Other Awardees of the six categories are attached at the Annex.
In the HKSSA 2019, Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) received a total of 156 nominations from 50 National Sports Associations. Awardees were selected by the accumulated scores of the Judging Panel, the Sports Media and the public. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Awards Presentation Ceremony originally scheduled in March 2020 was repeatedly postponed. To avoid further delay in recognizing the achievements of the athletes, SF&OC has decided to stage the Ceremony with an innovative conception of combining sports, arts and technology together. For the first time the Federation invite a team of students from the Department of Information Technology of Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tuen Mun) to work on integrating the virtual and physical presentation by XR technology. The Awards Ceremony will be recorded and broadcasted later. “The ARThletes” Exhibition was also staged to display the art pieces created jointly by local artists and Hong Kong athletes at the Venue.
The recorded video will be broadcasted at SF&OC Facebook Page and YouTube tonight and subsequently at different online and outdoor platforms. At the same time, to share the joyful moment of the Awardees with the public, a giveaway campaign called “Share the Joy with HKSSA 2019” will be launched and details will be announced at SF&OC Facebook Page . Please stay tune with us.
Besides The Hon. Mrs. Carrie LAM CHENG Yuet-ngor, GBM, GBS, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), other officiating VIPs included Mr. Timothy FOK, GBS, JP, President of SF&OC and Mr. Augustus TANG, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Pacific, Ms. LU Xinning, Deputy Director, Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr. PAN Yundong Deputy Commissioner, Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, The Hon. MA Fung Kwok, GBS, SBS, JP, Legislative Councilor (Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication) and senior Government officials were presenters of the Awards. Other invited guests were all from the local sports sector.
President FOK mentioned in the Ceremony that “Cathay Pacific 2019 Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards – Awards Presentation Ceremony, is finally staged with an innovative concept today. Every athlete present today is worthy of the Award because of his/her outstanding performance. Due to the pandemic, SF&OC was unable to invite all nominees to attend today’s event. We however deeply appreciated their relentless effort, dedication and perseverance.”
Mr. Augustus TANG, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Pacific said: “Cathay Pacific is proud to be the Title Sponsor of the 2019 Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards. We would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to all the winners, and a thank you to the Hong Kong public and the many other sponsoring Organizations whose support makes these awards possible. These awards celebrate excellence, progressiveness and unyielding can-do spirit – values that our home athletes exemplify and that we at Cathay Pacific share deeply.”
SF&OC would like to take this opportunity to express its heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the following organizations, including Title Sponsor – Cathay Pacific Airways Limited; Subvented Organization – Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Principal Partner – New World Development Company Limited; Official Fitness Partner – Fitness First; Official Partner – Fila Marketing (Hong Kong) Limited, Panasonic, Secret9 Production House, JM Network Limited; Official LED Screen Partner – IN LED Display Service Limited and Media Partner – Ming Pao Newspapers Limited. Last but not least, appreciation is extended to the Organizing Committee, Judging Panel, Sports Media and the Hong Kong community who supported this mega sports event by voting for their favourite athletes.
Issued by: Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China
Date: 10 April 2021
Annex: Awardees List of Cathay Pacific 2019 Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards
Video of Ceremony (Full Version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDGlPNP-1Fw
