INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT HAS A DAY AT THE RACES AND VISITS PARALYMPIC EQUESTRIAN VENUE
29 October 2007
International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by the Club's chairman Mr John C.C. Chan on raceday at Happy Valley on Sunday, October 28. Sir Philip was accompanied by his wife Lady Craven and both thoroughly enjoyed their day at the races.
On Saturday, the two guests visited the Paralympic equestrian venue at Sha Tin and the Hong Kong Sports Institute and Sir Philip stated that he was most impressed with the venue and facilities provided by the Jockey Club.
"I'm not an expert", Sir Philip said, "but the stables do seem to be state of the art." He went on to say that he thought the venue was logically laid out and compact in design.
Sir Philip, who has been a wheelchair user since a fall rock climbing at the age of 16, was also impressed with the accessibility at the venue, even though there are still 10 months to go before the start of the Paralympics. "Already the accessibility was not a problem for me", he said.
He expressed the opinion that Hong Kong was a great venue for the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events and believed that, as a result of the 2008 Games, equestrian sports would become much more high profile in the region.
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Photo 1:
International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven and his wife Lady Jocelyne Craven enjoyed their day at the races in the company of Club chairman Mr John C.C. Chan and the Executive Director of Charities, Mr William Yiu.
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Photo 2:
Sir Philip and Lady Craven watched the action from the Members' Box with the Executive Director of Charities, Mr William Yiu, during their day at Happy Valley.
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Photo 3:
Club CEO Mr Winfried Engelbrechts-Bresges had a chance to talk to guest of honour Sir Philip Craven over lunch in the Chairman's Box at Happy Valley.
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