Hong Kong is getting ready for the Olympic Equestrian events which will be held in Hong Kong this summer. To check the progress of construction works in relation to the competition venue and supporting facilities, Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr. Henry Tang, and members of the committee toured the Hong Kong Olympic and Paralympic Village and core equestrian venue in Sha Tin in March.

The committee visited the Royal Park Hotel in Sha Tin, which will serve as the Olympic and Paralympic Village for athletes and officials of participating Games teams.

Members were briefed by representatives of the Equestrian Company on the services and facilities. These facilities include service centers, retail services and cafe lounges, customized cuisines to cater for the needs of different cultures, and specially designed rooms for wheelchair users.

Mr. Tang, who is also the President of the Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong) of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), said, “We are pleased to see that the preparation work of the Olympic Village is well on schedule. We are impressed by the detailed planning on the accommodation, catering and security aspects, as well as the specially designed rooms for Paralympic equestrian athletes using wheelchairs.”

Committee members then visited the Olympic and Paralympic core equestrian venue at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. They were briefed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Head of Racing Operations and Equestrian, Mr. John Ridley, on the latest progress of works.

Works are in full swing with the construction of the 18,000-seat spectator stands and increased stable capacity to handle up to 225 horses, to be completed in about three months.

Members were briefed on the cooling facilities in the stables, the veterinary service and the world’s first ever air-conditioned equestrian indoor training arena introduced by the Equestrian Company and the Hong Kong Jockey Club to help horses adapt to the hot and humid weather of August.

"The Equestrian Committee will conduct regular inspections on different aspects of our preparatory work such as transport, security, crowd control, quarantine and volunteer training to ensure that each and every aspect is geared up and ready for the Games,” said Mr. Tang.

Mr. Tang said that representatives from a number of National Olympic Committees had come to Hong Kong to see for themselves the competition venues and related facilities. They were all very satisfied with Hong Kong's world-class facilities and supporting arrangements.

Around 160 representatives from 25 countries attended a workshop organized by the Federation Equestre International (FEI) last month in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FEI and experts from around the world had given a thumbs-up to the preparatory work done by Hong Kong and believed that the Olympic equestrian events to be held in Hong Kong would be outstanding.

“So far quite a number of leading overseas teams have qualified for the three equestrian events. We are confident that the equestrian events to be held here will be of the highest standard,” said Mr. Tang.

For more information about the Olympic Equestrian events, visit www.equestrian2008.org

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Olympic History in the making

The 2008 Olympic equestrian venues and facilities provided by The Hong Kong Jockey Club include a number of unique features and Olympic firsts:

• First-ever six-star accommodation for horses

• First-ever on-site testing laboratory for Olympic equine samples

• Fastest ever turnaround promised for Olympic equine samples

• First-ever Olympic on-site elective testing offered to equestrian teams

• First-ever recycling of 100% of Olympic stable waste

• First-ever air-conditioned indoor training arena in Olympic history

• Fastest ever creation of Olympic equestrian facilities (under two years)

• First-ever mobile cooling units for horses

• First-ever use of a racecourse in an Olympic equestrian venue