HONG KONG WONDER

    Hosts Hong Kong, vowing to make these Games "be the legend" as its slogan went, went from impressive to stunning when their sports performance culminated in their miracle win in the men's soccer final, over a much stronger Japan.

    "Glorious Hong Kong - reached its own Mount Olympus," the organizers exclaimed. "Never before, in the 16-year history of the regional sporting extravaganza, has Hong Kong won so many."

    When the final day dawned, Hong Kong collected an amazing pile of 26 gold, 31 silver and 53 bronze to reach a total of 110 medals, over three times of what they gained from the previous four editions combined.

    They clean swept squash titles, they won in judo, rowing, cycling, cue sports, windsurfing and they also pulled off heavy weight gold medals in table tennis and badminton, against giant China.

    Apart from its sporting achievement, Hong Kong earned praises for its organization, too.

    "It was really difficult for Hong Kong to stage a sports event in such a big scale, but they did a great job," said Chinese chef de mission Duan.

    "The organizers made a full use of the existing facilities as they offered a thoughtful and regulated service," said Duan. "They were very professional and good at coordination."

    "I think their organization gave us some new concepts in staging international events," he added.

    The preparation for the quadrennial regional event was first hit by the global economic crisis. The organizers were constantly short of fund to make ends meet. The Hong Kong SAR government would bear half of the 240 million Hong Kong dollars budget while the government itself had to battle the H1N1flu pandemic.

    Only two new stadiums were built and some existing facilities were upgraded, which obviously spared the organizers of post-Games utilization worries. The Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground will serve a community with 300,000 residents in the New Territories area and the BMX Park will become the training ground for Hong Kong cyclists after the Games.

    Like the previous edition in Macao of China four year ago, Hong Kong as the host has not built an athletes' village and Athletes were arranged in hotels close to where their events take place in a bid to reduce travel time and ease pressure on the city's heavy traffic.