HONG KONG: Athletes may receive bigger checks if they win gold medals at international sporting events.

The Sports Commission said yesterday it has upped prize money for the city's gold medalists during this year's East Asian Games by HK$15,000 to HK$40,000.

Champions at the 2012 London Olympic Games will receive HK$3 million, a whopping 200 percent increase from what they would have won during last year's Beijing Olympics.

"The pay raise is intended to give athletes more motivation and better incentive to excel," said Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing yesterday after a meeting with members of the Sports Commission.

Tsang also announced HK$15 million will be given to the Hong Kong Sports Institute to manage sporting facilities as well as host training programs. HK$3 million will be allotted to training young athletes per year.

Tsang said the objective of fostering high performance sport is to sustain and enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness in the national and international sporting arena with a cadre of high performance athletes who can become role models for youth, as well as enhance Hong Kong's standing.

President of the Hong Kong China Judo Association Pui Kwan-Kay said he thinks athletes will have a greater incentive to do their best in competitions, but he stressed that apart from prize money, the government should also step up resources in other

Retired professional swimmer Sherry Tsai said the pay raise is beneficial to Hong Kong's sporting scene, but she thinks the monetary award is not an athlete's greatest incentive.

"It is just the icing on the cake," she said.

Tsai values the sense of achievement from winning most. She said her family and friends are her biggest motivation to win, not the money.

(HK Edition 08/19/2009 page1)