HK athlete halts medal ceremony in latest blunder
Powerlifter follows new guidelines to raise alert as ‘Glory to Hong Kong’ is played at Dubai venue
A protest song from the anti-government unrest in 2019 was wrongly played yet again instead of the Chinese national anthem at an overseas sporting event, this time prompting the participating Hong Kong athlete to make a “T” hand gesture to alert the organiser to the blunder.
The Hong Kong government yesterday said it “strongly deplores and opposes the incident”, which occurred at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship in Dubai on Friday. It had asked the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee to follow up “in a serious manner”.
A video online showed the song “Glory to Hong Kong” was broadcast during a medal ceremony for Susanna Lin, who won gold. After the 15-second mark, Lin made a “T” sign with her hands, and the Chinese national anthem “March of the Volunteers” was played soon after.
A statement from the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said an initial report from the Olympic committee found that Lin and the team manager had followed guidelines and responded immediately. As a result, the organiser suspended the ceremony and made a correction.
“The [government] recognises the action taken by the Hong Kong representatives on the spot which upheld national dignity,” the statement said. “The [government] attaches great importance to the incident and has requested the [Olympic committee] to submit a report as soon as possible, and follow up on the incident in a serious manner.”
The Olympic committee said the Hong Kong Weightlifting and Powerlifting Association acted according to guidelines and had provided a recording of “March of the Volunteers” on November 28 for use at the event. It had instructed the association to investigate the incident with the event organiser and Asian Powerlifting Federation, and also submit a report.
The Post has contacted the Asian Powerlifting Federation for comment.
Pui Kwan-kay, honorary vice-president of the Olympic committee, said: “With the high frequency of such blunders lately, we can only remind athletes, coaches and team officials to take more steps to ensure such incidents do not happen.”
After a series of similar blunders at overseas rugby matches, the Olympic committee issued guidelines on how athletes should respond in such situations, including leaving the venue if the issue was not immediately resolved.
“[The] team leader should alert his team members immediately and lead the team members to use their hands to display the sign of ‘T’ for expressing objection to the error made and call for a halt to the proceedings for immediate correction,” it reads.
At the Asian Rugby Sevens Series in Incheon, South Korea, on November 13, “Glory to Hong Kong” was played instead of the national anthem as Hong Kong prepared to take on the hosts.
“Glory to Hong Kong” was written during the 2019 anti-government movement, becoming a protest anthem sung at rallies and by some football spectators.
Two similar blunders involving the city’s rugby team came to light on November 19. Footage on a sports streaming site showed a rugby match on November 6 in Dubai between Portugal and Hong Kong during which the correct music was used but wrongly labelled as “Glory to Hong Kong”.
A similar episode occurred during the broadcast of a match between Hong Kong and Tonga in Australia on July 23.