Swimming athlete and HKU student Elaine Chan Yu-ning

Universities will strengthen support to elite athletes to ensure that they will be able to complete their studies while undertaking sports training and preparing for competitions, Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-shing said yesterday.

He said after meeting with representatives of the eight University Grants Committee-funded institutions that student athletes will be able to enjoy flexibility in their studies as they may opt to defer studies for training or competitions by one to four years, depending on individual institutions.

"Training schedules for athletes may clash with their lessons. Allowing these students to defer their studies will make it much easier for them," he said.

Tsang said the community has become more concerned with the prospects of local athletes as the Beijing Olympics approaches.

Apart from the option of deferring studies, universities will also provide mentors for student athletes.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) graduate and former swimming athlete Alex Fong has agreed to be a student mentor, said the HKU vice-chancellor Tsui Lap-chee.

In addition, universities will recognize recommendations from the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, and the Hong Kong Sports Institute when considering applications from athletes, Tsang said.

But student athletes have reservations about the new support.

Elaine Chan Yu-ning, a first-year HKU business student who will participate in the 50-meter freestyle swimming competition at the Beijing Olympics, said Hong Kong's support to athletes lagged behind the US.

Chan studied in Ohio State University for 18 months after completing secondary five, and came back to Hong Kong for the Beijing Olympics.

She said the university in the US has a center specializing in helping student athletes with their studies and providing them with counseling services.

"Students can seek help from tutors at the center for their studies, which is very useful because they often skip lessons for competitions," she said.

However, such support is not available in Hong Kong.

Chan remembered there was one time when she could not submit her homework on time as she had to miss a class for a competition and nobody was there to help her catch up.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-shing briefs the media yesterday on universities' support for elite athletes. Teddy Ng

"I have sent the professor an email but he didn't reply until very late," she said.

Chan obtained a scholarship equivalent to HK$300,000 a year in the US, but what she is receiving now in Hong Kong is only HK$40,000 a year.

Chan, expecting to break the Hong Kong record of 26.14 seconds for 50-meter freestyle in the Olympics, needs to receive 20 hours of training per week.

She spends HK$3,000 a month on transportation because she lives in Kowloon, studies in the HKU, and has her training in Fo Tan and Wan Chai.

"I think the government should allocate more funds to athletes," she said.

Michelle Cheung, a HKU medical student who is also a track and badminton athlete, said she could not participate in a competition in Thailand in June because she has to sit an examination. She is also forced to quit the Hong Kong team as its training schedule clashes with her classes.

"Being a medical student and an athlete at the same time is almost impossible," she said.

But she will not consider deferring her studies.

(HK Edition 04/22/2008 page1)