Published : 05/12/2025

On 5 December 2009, the 5th East Asian Games commenced with great ceremony at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, marking the first time that the city had hosted a major multi-sport event, with nearly 200,000 people present to watch the cauldron lighting ceremony up close.

The East Asian Games were founded in 1993, with the first four editions being held successively in Shanghai, Busan, Osaka, and Macao.

The 5th edition brought together nine East Asian countries or regions, with over 3,000 elite athletes participating to compete for a total of 262 gold medals across 22 sports. In terms of both the number of sports and the number of participating athletes, it was the largest edition to date.

The opening ceremony of the 5th East Asian Games was very special, as it was the first to be held at sea. The ceremony used Victoria Harbour as its stage, with a backdrop of numerous vessels on the harbour decorated with colourful lights, interspersed with spectacular musical fireworks and water screen shows.

The mascots, "Dony" (東仔) and "Ami" (亞妹), were creatively based on the elements of fire and lion. Their hair symbolised fire, and their faces showed a lion-like confidence, embodying the "can-do" spirit and mutual support of Hong Kong residents "under the Lion Rock" and the flexible and dynamic nature of "fire".

The patterns on their bodies were derived from the Games' "fireworks" emblem, representing people of different races and skin colours gathering in Hong Kong, and uniting the power of participation.

The Hong Kong team achieved record-breaking outstanding results at the 5th East Asian Games, ranking 4th and winning a total of 110 medals: 26 gold, 31 silver, and 53 bronze. The medal count far exceeded the total from the previous four East Asian Games combined.