Praise for the 35-strong team came from both mainland Chinese officials and CEO John Lee Ka-chiu, who sent his “warmest congratulations.”

“Every athlete gave their best and achieved their full potential. Regardless of the results, everyone showed determination, perseverance and professionalism,” said Lee.

Paris also had a historic performance at the Asian Games last October, where Hong Kong athletes won 53 medals, including eight gold and 16 silver.

But apart from the three medalists, only the table tennis duo Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting, who lost the bronze medal match in the mixed doubles, and Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet, who reached the quarterfinals in the mixed doubles in badminton, came close to success in France.

The other successes were limited to their debut at the Olympic Games, as was the case with triathletes such as Jason Ng Tai-long and badminton singles player Lee Cheuk-yiu, who did not finish their race or were eliminated in tears in the early rounds.

Another debutant was cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing, who sobbed her way through an interview on Sunday as she admitted, “I don’t know what I was doing out there,” after a particularly disappointing performance on the track.

Lee Cheuk-yiu also admitted that he was experiencing emotional “ups and downs” and said he had to deal with weaknesses and consistency issues.

And once again, Hong Kong needed a special invitation to send an athlete: Felix Diu Chun-hei failed to make it past the men’s 100-meter heats, while 32-year-old Shek Wai-hung was allowed to carry the flag in gymnastics.

Of the ten Olympic medals won in Tokyo and Paris, seven belong to Haughey, Kong – who has decided to “take a break” – and Cheung Ka-long. Neither of them appears to have a natural successor within the group that competed in the French capital.

Ahead of Sunday’s closing ceremony, Chef de Mission Brian Stevenson declined to give press interviews about plans for the next four years, saying the focus should be “on the athletes” before heading to the Stade de France to take photos with flag bearers Ceci Lee and Lo Wai-fung.

At last year’s Asian Games, Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, vice president of the Hong Kong Sports Federation and Olympic Committee and chef de mission in Hangzhou, also dodged questions about the obvious gaps in the city’s sporting talent.

The main problems involved a gymnastics programme that had not produced a top athlete for a decade, an athletics federation with comparable success and a swimming federation that relied heavily on Haughey’s talent to cope.

A review of the Asian Games, reportedly held last December, was not made public because Trisha Leahy, then chief executive of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, claimed it was beyond the understanding of the average citizen.

A spokesperson for the institute had previously stated that they did not wish to comment on the overall performance in Hangzhou. However, the fact that the scholarship holders won 51 of the 53 medals proves that “we are on the right track with our direction and strategy.”

Last week, Leahy’s successor Tony Choi Yuk-kwan said he “regrettably” could not answer questions about how his organization plans to help athletes be more successful in 2028. It is up to individual sports associations to provide answers.

Sports Commissioner Sam Wong Tak-sum has now been in office for over a year and has not yet explained his job in detail.

As the city leader congratulated Hong Kong’s athletes on Sunday, he also expressed his confidence in their future successes and stressed that an amount of HK$941.6 million (US$120.7 million) has been made available to the institute for the 2024-25 financial year.

Estimated spending on sports development would be around HK$7.9 billion in 2024-25, more than double the previous year, he added.

When Choi initially declined to answer questions in May about the gaps in athlete development and talent identification, he also pointed the finger at the city’s sports associations. A spokesman for the HKSI said the associations’ role was to act as “the provider of training systems for the government’s elite sports.”

“An athlete’s development path usually begins with the youth system and training programs of the respective national sports federations,” the spokesman said in an email.

“Upon their recommendation, young sports talents can become HKSI scholarship holders. For more information, please contact the national sports associations.”

On Tuesday, the Post asked the gymnastics association and the athletics association for a statement. The gymnastics officials asked for some time to respond, while the athletics association did not respond.

Professor Patrick Lau Wing-chung of the School of Sports and Public Health at Baptist University said the relationship between sports associations, which were not “doing the same thing at the same pace”, and the HKSI needed to be improved.

“In the past, not all national sports associations have really emphasized cooperation with HKSI,” he said. “I would say we need to further strengthen and intensify the relationship between HKSI’s talent identification unit and individual sports associations.”

The criteria for sports to receive HKSI funding have remained largely unchanged since 2005, apart from an expansion to three funding tiers in 2013. The government’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau had previously told The Post that the system had been reviewed after each Olympics.

At that time, there was a refusal to discuss whether the criteria still served their purpose.

Lau said he believes the government should have a five-year plan that is renewed every five years so that there are “very detailed plans to develop the ladder” and maintain “successful development”.

However, he also said it was time for Hong Kong to move away from traditional sports such as athletics.

“If we want to get better, we need to get involved in new and young sports like skateboarding and sport climbing,” he said. “We should be smart enough and not do the things that dominate the Westerners.”