Jointly organised by the Macao Sport Development Board and the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau and co-organised by the Health Bureau, the 2015 World Challenge Day was hailed a success with the strong support of government departments, institutions, businesses, community organisations, schools and all social sectors. 256,057 people participated in the event, accounting for about 40.26% of the total population of Macao.
The 2015 World Challenge Day took place on 27th May. In response, Macao citizens participated in the activity and exercised for 15 consecutive minutes on that day. To encourage residents’ active participation, the ‘Public Sports Facilities Network’ of the Macao Sport Development Board was open to the public without charges during the period for individual use; the affiliated venues of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, including swimming pools, the recreational facilities in Hac Sa Park and Hac Sa Reservoir Water Park were also open for free.
This year, Macao’s counterparts were Jerusalem in Israel and Guatemala City in Guatemala, whose populations are respectively 850,000 and 994,078. On that day, 80,000 and 38,423 people completed the 15-minute exercise, accounting for 9.4% and 3.87% of the entire population, respectively. As a result of the positive response and active participation of Macao residents, Macao won first place in the competition with a record 40.26% of the population.
World Challenge Day is a global event organised by the Association for International Sports for All (TAFISA) and supported by the Asiania Sport for All Association (ASFAA). Since 2001, Macao has organised various social sectors to join the event. The organiser hopes to spread the message of exercise for wellbeing to residents and calls for their consistent engagement in sport; thus, besides enjoying the fun of sport, residents are encouraged to actively participate in sport training, introducing a new trend of sports and fitness.
