15th National Games athletics (marathon) test event to be held on February 23 (with photo)
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Deputy secretary-general of the Shenzhen Municipal Government and Executive Vice Chairperson of the Executive Committee for the 15th NG, the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities (NGD) and the 9th National Special Olympic Games (NSOG) in Shenzhen, Mr Kuang Bing, the Head of the National Games Coordination Office (Hong Kong) (NGCO) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Mr Yeung Tak-keung; and other Shenzhen officials, attended the press conference to introduce details of the test event.
The test event will be held on February 23. The marathon distance is 42.195 kilometres long, of which 21.841 kilometres are in the Hong Kong section. The race will start and finish at Shenzhen. It will start from the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center, enter Hong Kong via the Shenzhen Bay Port, pass through the Shenzhen Bay Bridge and Kong Sham Western Highway Viaduct, then turn back to the Shenzhen Bay Port through the same route and return to Shenzhen, and finally end at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center. The test event will comprise men’s and women’s races, with women to start at 7am and men to set off at 7.30am. The athletes will enter the Hong Kong section upon completion of approximately 2 kilometres of race route. Both groups are expected to spend around two hours in Hong Kong.
Speaking at the press conference, Mr Yeung said taking the opportunity of the 15th NG, Shenzhen and Hong Kong join hands together to hold this Shenzhen-Hong Kong marathon and the NG test event across the two places by making use of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge as the track for the first time, aiming to foster the sports exchange between the two places and promote the development of sports in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Mr Yeung added that Shenzhen and Hong Kong have been in close contact and conducted multiple site inspections to make full preparation for the test event. He stressed that Hong Kong will fully co-operate with Shenzhen and is committed to ensuring the smooth running of the event, so as to get well prepared for the 15th NG to be held in November this year.
Mr Kuang noted that the Shenzhen Bay Port connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong has been selected as part of the race route of the 15th NG athletics (marathon) test event to be staged in Shenzhen, giving full play to the important role of the 15th NG in areas including promoting regional integration, integrated development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and enhancing national cohesion.
The 2025 Shenzhen-Hong Kong marathon and the 15th NG athletics (marathon) test event is organised by the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, and hosted by the Executive Committee for the 15th NG, the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games in Shenzhen and the People’s Government of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, with the support of the NGCO, the Culture, Media, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, and the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen Municipality, as well as the Guangdong Athletics Association. The Chinese Athletics Association serves as an advisor, while the Hong Kong, China Association of Athletics Affiliates and a Shenzhen agency act as the executive units.
Ends/Thursday, February 13, 2025
Issued at HKT 21:40
Issued at HKT 21:40
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