prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Professional cyclist Sara Symington competed in which Olympic Games held in Sydeney, Australia?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Sven Nys
Sven Nys (Dutch: [ˌsfɛˈnɛis]; born 17 June 1976) is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike  With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of his generation, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross  Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national mountainbike champion, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games 

Career overview
Early years
Born in Bonheiden, Belgium, Nys began racing BMX at the age of 8  He won eight BMX national titles before switching to cyclocross, a more popular sport in Belgium  He won the under-23 world championship in 1997 and 1998, beating another Belgian, Bart Wellens  Nys moved to the elite category in 1998–1999, joining the Dutch Rabobank team 

Becoming elite
In the elite class he won the Superprestige competition and came third in the national championships  The next season, he won the Superprestige again, ended the World Cup as leader and became Belgian champion  This made him favourite for the 2000 world championship  But his Rabobank management told him not to beat his teammate, the Dutchman Richard Groenendaal  Groenendaal sprinted away from the start and Nys was forced to hold back and not help another Belgian, Mario De Clercq, chase him  Groenendaal won and Nys, who came third, was criticised in Belgium for choosing team over country  The Royal Belgian Cycling League demanded an explanation  It became more forgiving but the head coach, Erik De Vlaeminck, remained unconvinced Nys blamed an injury for not winning a season-long competition or championship in 2000–2001  A year later he won the World Cup and the Superprestige again  In the world championships that year he came third after being outsprinted by De Clercq and Tom Vannoppen  The following season Nys won the Superprestige for the fourth time as well as the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy for a first time  He became Belgian champion again, but Wellens won the world championship and the World Cup 
Wellens dominated 2003–2004  Nys' chance for the World Cup ended when other Belgians sprinted past him, taking points  Nys was angry that his countrymen had allowed Groenendaal, a Dutchman, to win the World Cup rather than him  That evening Nys decided from then on to ride for himself 

This is war  Thanks Vannoppen, thanks Van der Linden  This is the last thing I have done for the Belgian team  They can all go to hell  [   ] Apparently there are some who take joy out of me not winning the World Cup  I know who and will take that into account next year  National team coach Rudy De Bie told me that he has never seen anything like this before  Our country loses the World Cup today 

The cannibal
Nys won everything of importance and at the end of 2004–2005 won the national and world championships, ended number one in the UCI rankings and World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy  He is the only cyclo-crosser to achieve such dominance  Nys came close to repeating the feat the following season but he gave up in the world championship after a fall on the last lap 
Nys won all eight Superprestige races in 2006–2007  In the Superprestige he won 13 races from Hoogstraten in 2005 to Asper Gaver in 2007  That season he won the World Cup and the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy again, but neither the national or world championship  The national involved a lot of running, not Nys' talent, and were won by Wellens  At the world championship in Hooglede-Gits Nys fell three times: over Wellens, who fell because a television motor had hit one of the road markers; over Erwin Vervecken; and because of an error of his own  He finished 11th 
The following season, Nys won the World Cup, the Superprestige and the Gazet van Anterwerpen trophy again  He also won his fifth national championship  The Dutchman Lars Boom became champion of the world and Zdeněk Štybar took the silver, both barely 22 at the time  Nys, already nearing 32, came third 

Nys switched teams from Rabobank to Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner  Niels Albert, 2008's U23 world champion, joined the elite category that season, giving Nys another opponent  But Nys won all the season-long competitions and the national championship  Albert won the world championship, Štybar was second and Nys third  The Belgian press referred to Albert, Štybar and Nys as De Grote Drie (The Big Three), it was clear that Nys' years of absolute domination were behind him 
In his second mountain bike race Nys won the Belgian championship and then came ninth at the Olympic Games in 2008  On 31 December 2006 Nys won his 150th race with the elites, at Diegem  Four years later, he scored his 300th career win at the Koppenbergcross, one of the toughest races in the season 
Nys was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011 In 2013 Nys won the world championship a second time  He said his career was now complete On 10 February 2013, Nys won his 60th race in the Superprestige On 22 November 2015, Nys won the Koksijde round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Belgium, his fiftieth victory in the series  His win came seventeen years and a day after his first World Cup victory Sven Nys called a halt to his career on 5–6 March 2016 at an event called "Merci Sven" which was held at the Antwerp Sportpaleis (Belgium) 

Post cycling career
After ending his active cyclocross career Nys bought the cyclocross team Telenet–Fidea Lions of which he is the general manager  He is also a motivational speaker, during his keynotes he shares information about his experiences during his cycling career 

Major results
Cyclo-cross
Major championship results
UCI World Cup results
Superprestige
BPost Bank Trophy
Up until the season 2011–2012, this competition was called the Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy (GvA) 

Mountain Bike
Road
Passage 2:
Anton Villatoro
Anton Villatoro (born June 10, 1970 in Guatemala City, Guatemala) is a Guatemalan former professional cyclist  He attended the University of Colorado, where he raced with future US Postal teammate Tyler Hamilton  Villatoro won the 1991 Junior Tour of Guatemala, a gold medal at the 1994 Central American Games (team time trial) and placed fourth at the 1995 Pan American Games (time trial)  In 1996, he represented Guatemala at the Olympic Games in Atlanta 
He raced for the US Postal Service Cycling Team from 1996–1998 and then served as team captain for Team 7-UP from 1999 to 2000 
He retired in 2001 to pursue business interests 
Passage 3:
Jennifer Parilla
Jennifer Parilla (born January 9, 1981) is an American trampolinist who was born in Newport Beach, California   She was the first and only American to qualify to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a trampolinist when the sport debuted; and finished in 9th place   She competed for the US at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics 
She was on the national team for eleven years from 1993 to 2004; her favorite event was trampoline but she also competed successfully on the double mini  She was the National Champion in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004 on the trampoline, and on the double mini in 1998 and 1999   She earned national titles in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998 in synchronized trampoline, bringing her total national title count to twelve She was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2010 

Personal life
Jennifer's hometown is Lake Forest, California but she now resides in Newport Beach  She trained with Team Everybody gymnastics club and was coached by Lionel Rangel  Jennifer attended Orange Coast College and California State Polytechnic University in Pomona 
Jennifer is one of two children to Paul and Jan Parilla; she has an older brother named Steve   She is currently the Trampoline and Tumbling Director at National Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo, California 

International competition
2003 World Championships, Hannover, GER; 16th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Prague, CZE; 4th-Trampoline
2003 World Cup, Ostend, BEL; 18th-Trampoline
2003 Canada Cup, Oakville, O N , CAN; 8th-Trampoline
2002 World Cup, Mykolayiv, UKR; 11th – Trampoline
2001 World Championships, Odense, DEN; 19th – Trampoline
2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney, AUS; 9th-Trampoline
2000 World Cup, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs  Olympic Field)
2000 Olympic Test Event, Sydney, AUS; 6th – Trampoline (4th vs  Olympic Field)
1999 Olympic Selection; 9th – Trampoline
1999 World Championships, Sun City, RSA; 7th – Synchro, 17th – Trampoline
1999 French Nationals, Toulouse, FRA; 1st – Synchro
1998 World Championships, Sydney, AUS; 2nd – Double Mini, 3rd – Team Double Mini
1997 Trampoline World cup final, Frankfurt, GER; 5th – Trampoline
1997 Indo-Pacific Championships, Durban, RSA; 3rd – Double mini
1997 Trampoline World Cup Final, Sydney, AUS; 4th – Trampoline
1996 Trampoline World Cup, Frankfurt, GER; 2nd Trampoline
1996 World Championships, Vancouver, CAN; 6th – Synchro, 7th – Trampoline
1995 Trampoline World Cup, Vancouver, CAN; 7th – Trampoline
1994 World Championships, Porto, POR; 1st – Team Double Mini
1994 World Age Group Games, Vila De Conde, POR; 1st - Trampoline 2nd – Double Mini

National Competition
2004 U S  Olympic Team Trials, San Jose, Calif ; 1st - Trampoline
2004 Visa U S  Championships, Nashville, Tenn ; 1st - Trampoline
2003 U S  Championships, Sacramento, Calif ; 1st – Trampoline
2003 Winter Classic, Tampa, Fla ; 2nd - Trampoline
2002 National Championships, Cleveland, Ohio; 1st – Trampoline
2002 U S  Elite Challenge, Indianapolis, Ind ; 1st – Trampoline
2002 Winter Classic, Indianapolis, Ind ; 4th – Trampoline
2001 National Championships, San Antonio, Texas; 11th - Trampoline
2000 National Championships, St  Louis, Mo ; 1st – Trampoline
1999 U S  World Team Trials, Sacramento, Calif ; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Synchro - 2nd Double Mini
1999 U S  World Team Trials, Knoxville, Tenn ; 1st – trampoline, 1st – Double Mini, 1st - Synchro
1999 National Championships, Anaheim, Calif  ; 1st – Double Mini
1998 National Championships, St  Paul, Minn ; 1st – Trampoline, 1st – Syncro, 1st – Double Mini
1996 National Championships, Phoenix Ariz ; 1st – Synchro, 3rd – Trampoline
1995 National Championships, Denver, Colo ; 1st – Synchro, 2nd – Trampoline, 3rd – Double Mini
1994 National Championships, Nashville, Tenn ; 1st - Synchro, 4th – Double Mini
1993 National Championships; San Diego, Calif ; 1st - Synchro
Passage 4:
Kurt Betschart
Kurt Betschart born 25 August 1968 in Erstfeld Switzerland is a former professional cyclist  He was a Six Day Track specialist holding a world record 37 victories with the same partner, Bruno Risi  He had a total of 47 professional victories and represented Switzerland at the Olympic games  After sixteen years in professional cycling Kurt retired on 26 July 2006 

Olympic Games
2000 Summer Olympics - Sydney
11th, Men's Madison (Track cycling)

Palmares
Passage 5:
Eddy Schepers
Eddy Schepers (born 12 December 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist  He was a professional cyclist from 1978 to 1990 where he rode for many teams including C&A, Carrera and Fagor–MBK  He started out in the C&A cycling team of Belgian Eddy Merckx before riding for various teams  He competed in the individual road race event at the 1976 Summer Olympics In 1986 he rode alongside Irish cyclist Stephen Roche for the first time in the Carrera cycling team and he became a loyal teammate of Roche that year  During the following year, Schepers was instrumental in Roche winning the 1987 Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in supporting him on the road and also against the rest of the team who wanted the Italian Roberto Visentini to win the Giro d'Italia  On the fifth stage of the 1987 Giro d'Italia, Schepers let his breakaway companion Jean-Claude Bagot take the stage win in exchange for team support from Bagot's Fagor team if it was called upon in the future  In spite of working for Roche in the Giro d'Italia, Schepers still managed to place 12th in the general classification  Again in the 1987 edition of the Tour de France, Schepers provided Roche with crucial support while the rest of the team did not  Afterwards Schepers went with Roche to the Fagor team but with Roche past his peak due to chronic knee injury, their association stopped  Schepers spent his last year in the peloton riding for the Belgian team Tulip Computers 
His career victories include the overall of the Tour de l'Avenir stage race in 1977 and the first stage of the 1985 Tour de Romandie 

Major results
Passage 6:
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: Gadigal 2000), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia  It marked the second time the Summer Olympics were held in Australia, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne, in 1956 
Sydney was selected as the host city for the 2000 Games in 1993  Teams from 199 countries participated in the 2000 Games, which were the first to feature at least 300 events in its official sports programme  The Games' cost was estimated to be A$6 6 billion  These were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Juan Antonio Samaranch before the arrival of his successor Jacques Rogge  The 2000 Games were the last of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantly English-speaking country following the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States 
The final medal tally at the 2000 Summer Olympics was led by the United States, followed by Russia and China with host Australia at fourth place overall  Cameroon, Colombia, Latvia, Mozambique and Slovenia won a gold medal for the first time in their Olympic histories, while Barbados, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam won their first ever Olympic medals  Australia will host the Summer Olympics again in 2032 at Brisbane, Queensland making it the first Oceanian country to host the Olympics three times 
The 2000 Games received universal acclaim, with the organisation, volunteers, sportsmanship, and Australian public being lauded in the international media  Bill Bryson of The Times called the Sydney Games "one of the most successful events on the world stage", saying that they "couldn't be better"  James Mossop of the Electronic Telegraph called the Games "such a success that any city considering bidding for future Olympics must be wondering how it can reach the standards set by Sydney", while Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette suggested that the "IOC should quit while it's ahead  Admit there can never be a better Olympic Games, and be done with it," as "Sydney was both exceptional and the best"  These games would provide the inspiration for London's winning bid for the 2012 Olympic Games in 2005; in preparing for the 2012 Games, Lord Coe declared the 2000 Games the "benchmark for the spirit of the Games, unquestionably", admitting that the London organising committee "attempted in a number of ways to emulate what the Sydney Organising Committee did "

Host city selection
Sydney won the right to host the Games on 24 September 1993, after being selected over Beijing, Berlin, Istanbul and Manchester in four rounds of voting, at the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco  The Australian city of Melbourne who also hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics had lost out to Atlanta for the 1996 Summer Olympics three years earlier  Beijing would later be selected to host the 2008 Summer Olympics eight years later on 13 July 2001 and the 2022 Winter Olympics twenty-two years later on 31 July 2015  Beijing's loss to Sydney was seen as a "significant blow" to an "urgent political priority" of the Chinese Communist Party leadership having mounted the most intense and expensive candidacy campaign at the date so far(this include the Summer and Winter Games)  Although it is unknown as two members of the International Olympic Committee voted for Sydney over Beijing in 1993, it appears that an important role was played by Human Rights Watch's campaign to "stop Beijing" because of China's human rights record and international isolation following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests  Many in China were angry at what they saw as U S -led interference in the vote, and the outcome contributed to rising anti-Western sentiment in China and a new phase at the tensions in Sino-American relations 

Costs
The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimates the outturn cost of the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics at US$5 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 90% in real terms  This includes sports-related costs only, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organising committee for the purpose of staging the Games, e g , expenditures for technology, transportation, workforce, administration, security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build, e g , the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast centre, and media and press centre, which are required to host the Games  Indirect capital costs are not included, such as for road, rail, or airport infrastructure, or for hotel upgrades or other business investment incurred in preparation for the Games but not directly related to staging the Games  The cost for Sydney 2000 compares with a cost of US$4 6 billion for Rio 2016, US$40–44 billion for Beijing 2008 and US$51 billion for Sochi 2014, the most expensive Olympics in history  The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is US$5 2 billion, average cost overrun is 176% 
In 2000, the Auditor-General of New South Wales reported that the Sydney Games cost A$6 6 billion, with a net cost to the public between A$1 7 and A$2 4 billion  In the years leading up to the games, funds were shifted from education and health programs to cover Olympic expenses It has been estimated that the economic impact of the 2000 Olympics was that A$2 1 billion has been shaved from public consumption  Economic growth was not stimulated to a net benefit and in the years after 2000, foreign tourism to NSW grew by less than tourism to Australia as a whole  A "multiplier" effect on broader economic development was not realised, as a simple "multiplier" analysis fails to capture is that resources have to be redirected from elsewhere: the building of a stadium is at the expense of other public works such as extensions to hospitals  Building sporting venues does not add to the aggregate stock of productive capital in the years following the Games: "Equestrian centres, softball compounds and man-made rapids are not particularly useful beyond their immediate function "Many venues that were constructed in Sydney Olympic Park failed financially in the years immediately following the Olympics to meet the expected bookings to meet upkeep expenses  It was only the 2003 Rugby World Cup which reconnected the park back to citizens  In recent years, infrastructure costs for some facilities have been of growing concern to the NSW Government, especially facilities in Western Sydney  Proposed metro and light rail links from Olympic Park to Parramatta have been estimated to cost in the same order of magnitude as the public expenditure on the games  Stadium Australia had been considered for demolition in 2017 by then NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, citing that the stadium was "built for an Olympics" but not for modern spectators  The plan was scrapped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic  The Dunc Gray Velodrome has also struggled to keep up its $500,000 per year maintenance costs, although it is still used for track cycling events 

Chronological summary of the 2000 Summer Olympics
Preliminary matches
Although the Opening Ceremony was not scheduled until 15 September, the football competitions began with preliminary matches on 13 September  Among the pre-ceremony fixtures, host nation Australia lost 1–0 to Italy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the main stadium for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics 

Day 1: 15 September
Cultural display highlights
The opening ceremony began with a tribute to the Australian pastoral heritage of the Australian stockmen and the importance of the stock horse in Australia's heritage  It was produced and filmed by the Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation and the home nation broadcaster Channel 7  This was introduced by lone rider Steve Jefferys and his rearing Australian Stock Horse Ammo  At the cracking of Jefferys' stockwhip, a further 120 riders entered the stadium, their stock horses performing intricate steps, including forming the five Olympic Rings, to a special Olympics version of the theme, which Bruce Rowland had previously composed for the 1982 film The Man from Snowy River 
The Australian National Anthem was sung, the first verse by Human Nature and the second by Julie Anthony 
The ceremony continued, showing many aspects of the land and its people: the affinity of the mainly coastal-dwelling Australians with the sea that surrounds the "Island Continent"  The indigenous occupation of the land, the coming of the First Fleet, the continued immigration from many nations and the rural industry on which the economy of the nation was built, including a display representing the harshness of rural life based on the paintings of Sir Sidney Nolan  Two memorable scenes were the representation of the "Heart" of the country by 200 Aboriginal women from Central Australia who danced up "the mighty spirit of God to protect the Games" and the overwhelmingly noisy representation of the construction industry by hundreds of tap-dancing teenagers 
Because Bibi Salisachs (the wife of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch) was seriously ill and unable to accompany her husband to the Olympics, Dawn Fraser, former Australian Olympic Champion swimmer and member of the Parliament of New South Wales, accompanied Samaranch during the Australian cultural display, explaining to him some of the cultural references that are unfamiliar to non-Australians 

Formal presentation
A record 199 nations entered the stadium, with a record 80 of them winning at least one medal  The only missing IOC member was Afghanistan, who was banned due to the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression of women and its prohibition of sports  The ceremony featured a unified entrance by the athletes of North and South Korea, using a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean Peninsula  Four athletes from East Timor also marched in the parade of nations as individual Olympic athletes and marched directly before the host country  Although the country-to-be had no National Olympic Committee then, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag with country code IOA  The Governor-General, Sir William Deane, opened the games 
The Olympic Flag was carried around the arena by eight former Australian Olympic champions: Bill Roycroft, Murray Rose, Liane Tooth, Gillian Rolton, Marjorie Jackson, Lorraine Crapp, Michael Wenden and Nick Green  During the raising of the Olympics Flag, the Olympic Hymn was sung by the Millennium Choir of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia in Greek  Following this, Tina Arena sang a purpose-written pop song, The Flame The opening ceremony concluded with the lighting of the Olympic Flame, which was brought into the stadium by former Australian Olympic champion Herb Elliott  Then, celebrating 100 years of women's participation in the Olympic Games, former Australian women Olympic medalists Betty Cuthbert and Raelene Boyle, Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland (later Shirley Strickland de la Hunty), Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King brought the torch through the stadium, handing it over to Cathy Freeman, who lit the flame in the cauldron within a circle of fire  The  choice of Freeman, an Aboriginal woman, to light the flame was notable given the history of human rights abuses against Aboriginal people in Australia  Following her lighting, Freeman was the subject of racial abuse from some Australians  The planned spectacular climax to the ceremony was delayed by the technical glitch of a computer switch which malfunctioned, causing the sequence to shut down by giving a false reading  This meant that the Olympic flame was suspended in mid-air for about four minutes rather than immediately rising up a water-covered ramp to the top of the stadium  When the cause of the problem was discovered, the program was overridden and the cauldron continued its course, and the ceremony concluded with a fireworks display 

Day 2: 16 September
The first medals of the Games were awarded in the women's 10 metre air rifle competition, which was won by Nancy Johnson of the United States 
The Triathlon made its Olympic debut with the women's race  Set in the surroundings of the Sydney Opera House, Brigitte McMahon representing Switzerland swam, cycled and ran to the first gold medal in the sport, beating the favoured home athletes such as Michelie Jones who won silver  McMahon only passed Jones in sight of the finish line 
The first star of the Games was 17-year-old Australian Ian Thorpe, who first set a new world record in the 400-metre freestyle final before competing in an exciting 4 × 100 m freestyle final  Swimming the last leg, Thorpe passed the leading American team and arrived in a new world record time, two-tenths of a second ahead of the Americans  In the same event for women, the Americans also broke the world record, finishing ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden 
Samaranch had to leave for home, as his wife was severely ill  Upon arrival, his wife had already died  Samaranch returned to Sydney four days later  The Olympic flag was flown at half-staff during the period as a sign of respect to Samaranch's wife 

Day 3: 17 September
Canadian Simon Whitfield sprinted away in the last 100 metres of the men's triathlon, becoming the inaugural winner in the event 
On the cycling track, Robert Bartko beat fellow German Jens Lehmann in the individual pursuit, setting a new Olympic Record  Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel set a world record in the semi-finals the same event for women 
In the swimming pool, American Tom Dolan beat the world record in the 400-metre medley, successfully defending the title he won in Atlanta four years prior  Dutchwoman Inge de Bruijn also clocked a new world record, beating her own time in the 100 m butterfly final to win by more than a second 

Day 4: 18 September
The main event for the Australians on the fourth day of the Games was the 200 m freestyle  Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband had broken the world record in the semi-finals, taking it from the new Australian hero Ian Thorpe, who came close to the world record in his semi-final heat  As the final race finished, Van den Hoogenband's time was exactly the same as in the semi-finals, finishing ahead of Thorpe by half a second 
China won the gold medal in the men's team all-around gymnastics competition after being the runner-up in the previous two Olympics  The other medals were taken by Ukraine and Russia, respectively 
Zijlaard-van Moorsel lived up to the expectations set by her world record in cycling in the semis by winning the gold medal 

Day 7: 21 September
During the Women's Gymnastics All-Around, female athletes suffered damning scores and injuries due to improperly installed gymnastics equipment  Gymnasts performing on the vault gave uncharacteristically poor performances and fell  Officials blamed the series of falls and low scores on performance anxiety  It wasn't until Australian gymnast Allana Slater and her coach, Peggy Liddick, voiced concerns about the equipment that officials discovered the apparatus was five centimetres, or almost two inches, lower than it should've been  While athletes were given the opportunity to perform again, for some of them, the damage to their mental or physical health caused by the vault was irreparable  Chinese gymnast Kui Yuanyuan and American gymnast Kristen Maloney both injured their legs while attempting to stick their landings, with Kui needing to be carried to an examination area and Maloney damaging a titanium rod that had recently been implanted in her shin  Romanian gymnast Andreea Răducan ultimately took gold while her teammates, Simona Amânar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze, respectively 

Day 9: 23 September
By rowing in the winning coxless four, Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became a member of a select group who had won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics 
The swimming 4 x 100-metre medley relay of B J  Bedford, Megan Quann (Jendrick), Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres became the first women's relay under 4-minutes, swimming 3:58 and setting a world record, claiming the gold medal for the United States 

Day 10: 24 September
Rulon Gardner, never an NCAA champion or a world medalist, beat Alexander Karelin of Russia to win gold in the super heavyweight class, Greco-Roman wrestling  Karelin had won gold in Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta  Before this fight, he had never lost in international competition, had been unbeaten in all competitions in 13 years, and had not surrendered a point in a decade 

Day 11: 25 September
Australian Cathy Freeman won the 400-metre final in front of a jubilant Sydney crowd at the Olympic Stadium, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Katharine Merry of Great Britain  Freeman's win made her the first competitor in Olympic Games history to light the Olympic Flame and then go on to win a Gold Medal  The attendance at the stadium was 112,524 – the largest attendance for any sport in Olympic Games history 
In a men's basketball pool match between the United States and France, the USA's Vince Carter made one of the most famous dunks in basketball history  After getting the ball off a steal, the 6'6"/1 98 m Carter drove to the basket, with 7'2"/2 18 m centre Frédéric Weis in his way  Carter jumped, spread his legs in midair, scraped Weis' head on the way up, and dunked  The French media dubbed the feat le dunk de la mort ("the dunk of death") 

Day 14: 28 September
The Canadian flag at the athletes' village was lowered to half-mast as Canadian athletes paid tribute to the former prime minister Pierre Trudeau after hearing of his death in Montreal (because of the time zone difference, it was 29 September in Sydney when Trudeau died)  The Canadian flag was flown at half-mast for the remainder of the Olympics, on orders from both IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy, as the state funeral did not take place until 3 October, two days after the closing ceremony, and the Canadian athletes subsequently rushed back to attend his funeral after 1 October 

Day 16: 30 September
Cameroon won a historic gold medal over Spain in the Men's Olympic Football Final at the Olympic Stadium  The game went to a penalty shootout, which was won by Cameroon 5–3 

Day 17: 1 October
The last event of the games was the Men's Marathon, contested on a course that started in North Sydney  The event was won by Ethiopian Gezahegne Abera, with Kenyan Erick Wainaina second, and Tesfaye Tola, also of Ethiopia, third  It was the first time since the 1968 Olympics that an Ethiopian won the gold medal in this event 
The closing ceremony commenced with Christine Anu performing her version of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home", with several Aboriginal dancers atop the Geodome Stage in the middle of the stadium, around which several hundred umbrella and lamp box kids created an image of Aboriginal Dreamtime  The Geodome Stage was used throughout the ceremony, which was a flat stage mechanically raised into the shape of a Geode 
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch declared at the Closing Ceremony,
"I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever "
Subsequent Summer Olympics held in Athens, Beijing and London have been described by Samaranch's successor Jacques Rogge as "unforgettable, dream Games", "truly exceptional" and "happy and glorious games" respectively – the practice of declaring games the "best ever" having been retired after the 2000 Games 

Sports
The 2000 Summer Olympic programme featured 300 events in the following 28 sports:

Although demonstration sports were abolished following the 1992 Summer Olympics, the Sydney Olympics featured wheelchair racing as exhibition events on the athletics schedule Special quarantine conditions were introduced to allow entry of horses into Australia to participate in equestrian events, avoiding the need for such events to take place elsewhere as had happened at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne 

Calendar
All dates are in AEDST (UTC+11); the other two cities, Adelaide uses ACST (UTC+9:30) and Brisbane uses AEST (UTC+10)

Medal count
These are the top ten nations that won medals in the 2000 Games 
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Olympic Committee  Some other sources may be inconsistent due to not taking into account all later doping cases 

  *   Host nation (Australia)

Participating National Olympic Committees
199 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Sydney Games, two more than in the 1996 Summer Olympics; in addition, there were four Timorese Individual Olympic Athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics  Eritrea, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau made their Olympic debut this year 
Democratic Republic of the Congo was once again designated under that name, after it participated as Zaire from 1984 to 1996 
Afghanistan was the only 1996 participant (and the only existing NOC) that did not participate in the 2000 Olympics, having been banned due to the Taliban's totalitarian rule in Afghanistan, their oppression of women, and its prohibition of sports 

Venues
Sydney Olympic Park
Stadium Australia: Ceremonies (opening/closing), Athletics, Football (final)
Sydney International Aquatic Centre: Diving, Modern Pentathlon (swimming) Swimming, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo (medal events)
State Sports Centre: Table Tennis, Taekwondo
NSW Tennis Centre: Tennis
State Hockey Centre: Field Hockey
The Dome and Exhibition Complex: Badminton, Basketball, Gymnastics (rhythmic), Handball (final), Modern Pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Volleyball (indoor)
Sydney SuperDome: Gymnastics (artistic, trampoline), Basketball (final)
Sydney Baseball Stadium: Baseball, Modern Pentathlon (riding, running)
Sydney International Archery Park: Archery

Sydney
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre: Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Weightlifting, Wrestling
Sydney Entertainment Centre: Volleyball (indoor final)
Dunc Gray Velodrome: Cycling (track)
Sydney International Shooting Centre: Shooting
Sydney International Equestrian Centre: Equestrian
Sydney International Regatta Centre: Rowing, Canoeing (sprint)
Blacktown Olympic Centre: Baseball, Softball
Western Sydney Parklands: Cycling (mountain biking)
Ryde Aquatic Leisure Centre: Water Polo
Penrith Whitewater Stadium: Canoeing (slalom)
Bondi Beach: Volleyball (beach)
Sydney Football Stadium: Football
Olympic Sailing Shore Base: Sailing
Centennial Parklands: Cycling (road)
Marathon course: Athletics (marathon)
North Sydney: Athletics (marathon start)
Sydney Opera House: Triathlon 

Outside Sydney
Canberra Stadium, Canberra: Football
Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide: Football
Melbourne Cricket Ground: Football
The Gabba (Brisbane Cricket Ground), Brisbane: Football

Organization
Organisations responsible for the Olympics
A number of quasi-government bodies were responsible for the construction, organisation and execution of the Sydney Games  These included:

the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympic Organizing Committee (SPOC), primarily responsibles for the staging of the Games
Olympic Coordination Authority (OCA), primarily responsible for construction and oversight
Olympic Roads & Transport Authority (ORTA)
Olympic Security Command Centre (OSCC)
Olympic Intelligence Centre (OIC)
JTF Gold the Australian Defence Force Joint Taskforce Gold
Sydney Olympic Broadcasting Organisation (nominally part of SOCOG)
IBM, provider of technology and the Technical Command Centre
Telstra, provider of telecommunications
Great Big Events, event management and marketingThese organisations worked closely together and with other bodies such as:

the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)
the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC)
the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC)
the other 197 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
the other 125 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs)
the 33 International Sports Federations (IFs)
all three levels of Australian government (federal, state and local)
dozens of official sponsor and hundreds of official supplier companiesThese bodies are often collectively referred to as the "Olympic Family" 

Organisation of the Paralympics
The organisation of the 2000 Summer Paralympics was the responsibility of the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee (SPOC)  However, much of the planning and operation of the Paralympic Games was outsourced to SOCOG such that most operational programmes planned both the Olympic and Paralympic Games 

Other Olympic events
The organisation of the Games included not only the actual sporting events, but also the management (and sometimes construction) of the sporting venues and surrounding precincts, the organisation of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, and the Olympic torch relay, which began in Greece and travelled to Australia via numerous Oceania island nations 

Phases of the Olympic project
The staging of the Olympics were treated as a project on a vast scale, broken into several broad phases:

1993 to 1996 – positioning
1997 – going operational
1998 – procurement/venuisation
1999 – testing/refinement
2000 – implementation
2001 – post-implementation and wind-down

SOCOG organisational design
The internal organisation of SOCOG evolved over the phases of the project and changed, sometimes radically, several times 
In late 1998, the design was principally functional  The top two tiers below the CEO Sandy Hollway consisted of five groups (managed by Group General Managers and the Deputy CEO) and twenty divisions (managed by divisional General Managers), which in turn were further broken up into programmes and sub-programmes or projects 
In 1999, functional areas (FAs) broke up into geographic precinct and venue teams (managed by Precinct Managers and Venue Managers) with functional area staff reporting to both the FA manager and the venue manager  SOCOG moved to a matrix structure  The Interstate Football division extant in 1998 was the first of these geographically based venue teams 

Volunteer program
The origins of the volunteer program for Sydney 2000 dates back to the bid, as early as 1992 
On 17 December 1992, a group of Sydney citizens interested in the prospect of hosting the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games gathered for a meeting at Sports House at Wentworth Park in Sydney 
In the period leading up to 1999, after Sydney had won the bid, the small group of volunteers grew from approximately 42 to around 500  These volunteers became known as Pioneer Volunteers  The Pioneer Volunteer program was managed internally by SOCOG's Volunteer Services Department in consultation with prominent peak groups like The Centre for Volunteering (Volunteering and TAFE  Some of the Pioneer Volunteers still meet every four months, an unseen legacy of the games which brought together a community spirit not seen before 
During the Olympic games, tens of thousands of volunteers (the official figure placed at 46,967) helped everywhere at the Olympic venues and elsewhere in the city  They were honoured with a parade like the athletes had a few days before 

Marketing
Official logo
The bid logo was introduced in 1992 and created by architect and designer Michael Bryce  It featured a colourful, stylised image of the Sydney Opera House which is a possible reference to the motif of the rainbow serpent  
The official logo was revealed in 1996, and is also referred to as the "Millennium Man"   It incorporated similar curves to the bid logo and combined them with a stylised image of a runner to form a torchbearer in motion  The image of the runner s composed of  two small yellow boomerangs for arms and a larger red boomerang for legs  Over the runner's head is a trail of smoke that represents the arches of the Sydney Opera House The design process of the official logo, as well as all other aspects of the Olympic Games' visual design identity, was awarded to Melbourne design studio FHA Image Design  The Sydney Olympics brand identity project officially started in 1993, and lasted 7 years  It was also up to FHA Design to prepare the visual identity of the Paralympic Games and this also absorbed some elements as the identification signals and the pictograms 

Mascots
The official mascots chosen for the 2000 Summer Olympics were Syd the platypus, Millie the echidna, and Olly the kookaburra, designed by Matthew Hattan and Jozef Szekeres and named by Philip Sheldon of agency Weekes Morris Osborn in response to the original SOCOG recommendation of Murray, Margery, and Dawn after famous Australian athletes 
There was also Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat, an unofficial mascot popularised by comedy team Roy Slaven and HG Nelson on the TV series The Dream with Roy and HG  Roy and HG also frequently disparaged the official mascots on their television program 

Sponsors
Medals and bouquets
A total of 750 gold, 750 silver and 780 bronze medals were minted for the Games  The gold and silver medals contained 99 99 percent of pure silver  The bronze medals were 99 percent bronze with one percent silver, they were made by melting down Australian one-cent and two-cent coins, which had been removed from circulation from 1992 onward 
The bouquets handed to medal recipients incorporated foliage from the Grevillea baileyana, also known as the white oak 

Awards and commendations
The International Olympic Committee awarded Sydney and its inhabitants with the "Pierre de Coubertin Trophy" in recognition of the collaboration and happiness shown by the people of Sydney during the event to all the athletes and visitors around the world After the games' end, the New South Wales Police Force was granted use of the Olympic Rings in a new commendation and citation as the IOC consideration after having staged the "safest" games ever 

Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards  They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016 

In popular culture
In F J  Campbell's 2018 novel No Number Nine, the last part of the book is set at the Sydney 2000 Olympics In Tom Clancy's thriller Rainbow Six and its video game adaptation, the 2000 Olympic Games are the setting of a plot by eco-terrorists, who plan to use the games in order to spread a terrible new plague throughout the world In Morris Gleitzman's children's book Toad Rage, a cane toad travels to Sydney in a bid to become the Olympic mascot The Games was a mockumentary television series run on the ABC network, with two seasons that ran in 1998 and 2000  The series satirized corruption and cronyism in the Olympic movement, bureaucratic ineptness in the New South Wales public service, and unethical behaviour within politics and the media  An unusual feature of the show was that the characters shared the same name as the actors who played them 

See also
2000 Summer Paralympics
Olympic Games celebrated in Australia
1956 Summer Olympics – Melbourne
2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney
2032 Summer Olympics – BrisbaneList of IOC country codes
The Games of the XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi
John Coates
Use of performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympic Games – Sydney 2000

Notes
Passage 7:
List of Olympic Games host cities
This is a list of host cities of the Olympic Games, both summer and winter, since the modern Olympics began in 1896  Since then, summer and winter games have usually celebrated a four-year period known as an Olympiad; summer and winter games normally held in staggered even years  There have been 29  Summer Olympic Games held in 21 cities, and 24 Winter Olympic Games held in 21 cities  In addition, three summer and two winter editions of the games were scheduled to take place but later cancelled due to war: Berlin (summer) in 1916; Sapporo–Garmisch-Partenkirchen (winter) and Tokyo–Helsinki (summer) in 1940; and Cortina d'Ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944  The 1906 Intercalated Olympics were officially sanctioned and held in Athens  However, in 1949, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to unrecognize the 1906 Games  The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo were postponed for the first time in the Olympics history to summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the 2022 Winter Olympics being held roughly six months later in Beijing Four cities have been chosen by the IOC to host upcoming Olympic Games: Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Olympics, and Brisbane for the 2032 Summer Olympics 
In 2022, Beijing became the first city that has held both the summer and the winter Olympic Games  Ten cities will have hosted the Olympic Games more than once: Athens (1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics), Paris (1900, 1924 and 2024 Summer Olympics), London (1908, 1948 and 2012 Summer Olympics), St  Moritz (1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics), Lake Placid (1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics), Los Angeles (1932, 1984 and 2028 Summer Olympics), Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956 and 2026 Winter Olympics), Innsbruck (1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics), Tokyo (1964 and 2020 Summer Olympics) and Beijing (2008 Summer Olympics and 2022 Winter Olympics)  Stockholm hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics  London became the first city to have hosted three Games with the 2012 Summer Olympics  Paris will become the second city to do this with the 2024 Summer Olympics, followed by Los Angeles as the third in 2028 
The Games have primarily been hosted in the regions of Europe (30 editions) and the Americas (13 editions); eight Games have been hosted in Asia and two have been hosted in Oceania  Rio de Janeiro became South America's first Olympic host city with the 2016 Summer Olympics  Africa has yet to host an Olympic Games  Other major geographic regions which have never hosted the Olympics include the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, Central America and the Caribbean  Between the first Winter Olympics in 1924 and the last ones to be held in the same year as the Summer Olympics in 1992, the Summer and Winter games took place in the same country three times 
Host cities are selected by the IOC membership, usually seven years in advance  The selection process lasts approximately two years  In the first stage, any city in the world may submit an application to become a host city  After 10 months, the Executive Board of the IOC decides which applicant cities will become official candidates as based on the recommendation of a working group that reviews the applications  In a second stage, the candidate cities are investigated thoroughly by an Evaluation Commission, which then submits a final short list of cities to be considered for selection  The host city is then chosen by vote of the IOC session, a general meeting of IOC members 

Olympic Games host cities
Host cities for Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Key  †   Cancelled
  §   Postponed

The 1906 Intercalated Games are no longer officially recognized by the IOC as an official Olympic Games 

Host cities for multiple Summer and Winter Olympic Games
Number of Olympic Games by country
Number of Olympic Games by region
See also
List of bids for the Summer Olympics
List of bids for the Winter Olympics

Notes
Passage 8:
Jelle Nijdam
Jelle Nijdam (born 16 August 1963) is a Dutch former professional road cyclist  Nijdam turned professional after the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles  He participated in the Tour de France 10 times, winning six stages and wearing the yellow jersey for three days  Nijdam's father, Henk Nijdam, was a professional cyclist from 1962 to 1969, who won the 1962 world amateur track pursuit championship  He also competed in the individual pursuit and team pursuit events at the 1984 Summer Olympics 

Career achievements
Major results
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
See also
List of Dutch Olympic cyclists
List of Dutch cyclists who have led the Tour de France general classification
Passage 9:
Kuwait national under-23 football team
The Kuwait national under-23 football team is the youth association football team representing Kuwait in youth competitions and it is controlled by Kuwait Football Association  Kuwait under 23 Could also be called as Kuwait Olympic Team  Kuwait under 23 also represents its country in the Olympic Games  From 1900 to 1976 Kuwait did not qualify for the Olympic Games but in 1980 Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games in China and had the best record of their country finishing in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games  Kuwait missed the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games  But in 1992 Kuwait finally qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in Spain, however with their poor performance, Kuwait was eliminated in the first round of that tournament  After that Kuwait had missed the 1996 Olympic Games that was hosted by the United States, Kuwait then qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic Games  Kuwait has never won the GCC U-23 Championship but their best finish at that Competition was as a runner up in 2010  In the 2022 Asian U-23 qualification Cup Group D, Kuwait managed to defeat Bangladesh by 1-0 and Saudi Arabia by 2-1, this resulted in Kuwait to qualify for the 2022 Asian U-23 Cup 

Honours
Regional honours
GCC U-23 ChampionshipRunners-up (2): 2010, 2015

Minor
2018 Olympic Return Cup

History
Kuwait’s first-ever qualification to the Olympic games was in the 1980 Olympic Games which Kuwait were eliminated in the quarter-finals of that Olympic games  Kuwait missed the 1984 Olympic Games and the 1988 Olympic Games  Kuwait came back to the Olympic Games in 1992 after missing two events being eliminated in the quarter-final of that event  Kuwait did not qualify until the 2000 Olympic Games and that was the last time Kuwait qualified for the Olympic games  Kuwait did not qualify to the Olympic Games in 2004 after being eliminated in the qualifying Preliminary round 3 of the Football at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers at the third position of the 3rd group  Kuwait was unqualified from Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualifier, with 2 being 4 goals less than Qatar due to that, Kuwait missed the 2008 Olympic Games  Kuwait also failed to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games after losing Football at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualifiers, within losing the first leg to Japan 3-1 but then Kuwait defeated Japan 2-1, Japan won on the aggregate 
Kuwait does not have a good record at GCC U-23 Championship after finishing 5th in the final group of the 2008 GCC U-23 Championship 
Kuwait was at the bottom of the table at that time  In 2010 Kuwait was the runner-up of their group  Kuwait was qualified for the semi-finals, Kuwait defeated Oman 5-4 on penalties  But lost to UAE  In the 2011 and 2012 GCC U-23 Championship, Kuwait was unfortunately eliminated in the first round with 0 points losing all three games 

Participation in Tournaments


=== Summer Olympics ===
Passage 10:
Sara Symington
Sara Symington (born 25 September 1969) is a female English former professional cyclist 

Cycling career
She was the first British female rider to take a medal in a World Cup race, which she achieved in Australia in 1999  She represented Great Britain at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and England at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 2002 Commonwealth Games  She also rode at the 1998, 1999, and 2000 UCI Road World Championships and on the track at the 2001 and 2002 UCI Track Cycling World Championships 

Personal life
Symington was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, lived in Aylestone and she now lives in Nottingham  She had competed as a javelin thrower as a junior, and she was a member of the national triathlon team prior to becoming a full-time cyclist  Symington started her elite triathlon career whilst combining studying for a master's degree with a spell serving in the police, having previously graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in sports science 

Post cycling
Symington retired from competition after the 2004 Olympics: following this she worked in business for two years, before returning to the sports world through working as a performance advisor for UK Sport  She was subsequently appointed performance director of Archery GB in February 2009  In February 2015 England Netball announced that she would join them as their performance director the following month  In that role she helped the England national netball team to its first Commonwealth gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games  In August 2020 Symington was appointed by UK Athletics as their performance director  She left this role in October 2021 in order to take up an appointment as head of British Cycling's Olympic and Paralympic programmes 

Palmarès
Context 2: Passage 1:
6th National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 6th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at the Detroit Olympia, home of the Detroit Red Wings, on October 5, 1952  For the second year in a row, the format had the first and second All-Star teams, with additional players on each team, play each other  After the game ended in a tie for the second year in a row, the NHL decided that they would continue with the previous format of the Stanley Cup winner playing an all-star team 

The game
Game summary
Referee: Bill Chadwick
Linesmen: George Young, Doug Young

Rosters
Notes

Citations
Passage 2:
63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 2018 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Amalie Arena in  Tampa, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 28, 2018  Tampa last held the NHL All-Star Game in 1999  The All-Star Game was played in lieu of NHL participation in the 2018 Winter Olympics, as the NHL Board of Governors ruled against interrupting the season to send players to Pyeongchang from February 10 to 25 The Pacific All-Stars won the All-Star Game, which was in its third straight year of a four-team, 3-on-3, single elimination format, with one team representing each of the league's four divisions  Rookie Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks was named the Most Valuable Player, scoring two goals with an assist  He became the first rookie to win MVP since Mario Lemieux in 1985 

Format
The 2018 All-Star Game again used the 3-on-3 tournament format successfully introduced in 2016, in which teams representing each of the NHL's four divisions (the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central, and Pacific) played a single-elimination tournament, with each game consisting of two 10-minute halves played 3-on-3 and going directly to a shootout if tied after 20 minutes In keeping with the four-team format, four separate uniforms were unveiled on January 3, one for each division   As with the previous year, the jerseys are meant to be of high contrast against one another to avoid confusion regardless of which teams face off   The primary colors of each jersey mirror the colors used by the event's host, the Lightning, with the Pacific division in white, the Central in black, the Atlantic in blue, and the Metropolitan in gray   Accent colors of "solar red" (on the Western Conference uniforms) and "UV yellow" (on the Eastern Conference uniforms) are meant to evoke the "warm, vibrant sunset tones and the energy of the Tampa Bay area "  The custom-designed number font also includes a pattern based on the suspension cables of the nearby Sunshine Skyway Bridge   The uniforms also see a nod to classic 1980s All-Star uniforms in the inclusion of stars on the sleeves, one for each division 

Skills Competition
The NHL All-Star Skills Competition took place the day before the All-Star Game on January 27, 2018, at Amalie Arena  Event winners were awarded a $25,000 prize, with new events the passing challenge and goalie save streak added to the competition  The winners were:

Fastest Skater – Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers, 13 454 seconds
Puck Control Relay – Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames, 24 650 seconds
Passing Challenge – Alex Pietrangelo, St  Louis Blues, 46 610 seconds
Save Streak – Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights, 14 saves
Hardest Shot – Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, 101 3 mph
Accuracy Shooting – Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks, 11 136 seconds

Rosters
As in the previous two All-Star Games, captaincy of each division was determined by a fan vote, running from December 2, 2017 until January 1, 2018   On January 3, 2018, after a month of fan voting, the four captains were announced by the NHL  Steven Stamkos of the hosting Lightning was selected captain for the Atlantic Division  Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was selected for the Metropolitan Division   P  K  Subban of the Nashville Predators and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers were selected to captain the Central and Pacific Divisions, respectively, for the second consecutive year On January 7, Jon Cooper of the Lightning was named head coach of the Atlantic Division Team   Joining him as coaches are Peter Laviolette of the Predators (Central), Barry Trotz of the Capitals (Metropolitan), and Gerard Gallant of the Golden Knights (Pacific)   Coaches are chosen from the team in each division with the highest points percentage through January 6, the season's halfway point: the Lightning sat at 0 744 with 61 points as the top team in the NHL, trailed by the Golden Knights at 0 725 with 58 points  The Predators, with a 0 659 percentage and 54 points, were ranked fourth while the Capitals, sitting at a 0 646 percentage for 53 points, ranked sixth overall Full team rosters were announced on January 10, 2018  Brock Boeser, the Vancouver Canucks' first-round draft pick in 2015, was the sole rookie selected to appear in the 2018 All-Star Game  As of January 10, he led all rookies in goals and points with 22 and 40 respectively through 40 games, placing him fifth overall in goal scoring in the entire NHL Under a week prior to the game, Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings elected to not accept his invitation  As a consequence, he was suspended for one regular season game  Mike Smith of the Flames replaced Quick and joined Marc-Andre Fleury as the goalies for the Pacific Division  As well, Taylor Hall of the New Jersey Devils was injured and replaced by Brian Boyle in the Metropolitan Division 

Uniforms
As with the previous game, the NHL used four uniquely-colored jerseys for each of the four division teams  As this was the first game with Adidas as the uniform supplier, the uniforms all featured Adidas' trademark three stripes down the sides of the jerseys, underneath the arms  The colors for each division were: blue with yellow trim, with blue pants, for the Atlantic; gray with yellow trim and black pants for the Metropolitan; black with reddish-orange trim and black pants for the Central; and white with reddish-orange trim and white pants for the Pacific  White pants had previously only been worn in the NHL by the 1974–75 Washington Capitals for a few games, and the Los Angeles Kings for the 2015 NHL Stadium Series game  The numbers on the back of the jerseys featured a pattern based on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge 

Bracket
Game summaries
First semifinal game
Second semifinal game
Final
Festivities and entertainment
All-Star celebrations began on January 26 with the 2018 NHL All-Star pregame near the arena   Events included an opportunity to meet NHL mascots, participate in skills challenges in the NHL All-Star Skills Zone, view the NHL's various trophies, including the Stanley Cup, and meet past and present NHL players for autographs   The pregame was a recurring event open all of All-Star Weekend All-Star Friday Night included the Enterprise NHL All-Star Friday Night concert at Curtis Hixon Park headlined by Fitz and the Tantrums The 2018 Gasparilla Pirate Festival and the Gasparilla Parade of the Pirates took place nearby on January 27, prior to the All-Star Skills Competition at Amalie Arena   Former Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier was named the grand marshal for the parade, and regarded as a "perfect choice" by Christopher Lykes, the Captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, who have hosted the parade annually since 1904   According to Lykes, "Vinny was a force with the Lightning and a force as an NHL All-Star  He has continued his leadership by being an active and positive role model in our community "The All-Star Red Carpet began prior to the All-Star Game at 1:00 pm on January 28, with further opportunities for fans to interact with the players as they enter the arena   Kid Rock performed during the second intermission, prior to the start of the championship game  News of his performance was announced during NBCSN's pregame coverage for the January 16 Flyers-Rangers game   The announcement was received with mixed opinions, due to a combination of factors including the length of time since his last major musical hit and his political stances Lindsay Ell sang the Canadian national anthem while Brett Young sang the American national anthem 

Television
The All-Star Game and skills competition were broadcast in the United States by NBC and NBCSN, respectively  This marked the second consecutive season that the All-Star Game was broadcast on American broadcast network television: the year before, it returned to NBC and network television at large for the first time since 2004  In Canada, both the All-Star Game and skills competition were broadcast on both CBC and Sportsnet, and on TVA Sports in French 
Passage 3:
53rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 2003 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on February 2, 2003 at Office Depot Center in Sunrise, the home of the Florida Panthers  It was the first All-Star Game since the 1997 All-Star Game to use the Eastern Conference–Western Conference format 

All-Star weekend
NHL YoungStars Game
The All-Star festivities began on February 1 with the YoungStars Game, pitting the best rookies on League rosters against each other  Months ago, it was decided that the assistant coaches of the team with the best points percentages in their respective conferences through the games of Wednesday, January 8, were selected as coaches for the Eastern Conference and Western Conference YoungStars, respectively   The YoungStars players were selected by the NHL's Hockey Operations Department, in consultation with League general managers 
The game's format changed from the previous season as it will be played using five skaters and one goaltender per team   The duration of the game will consist of three 20-minute periods, running time with three-minute stops after goals with a 20-minute break between periods   If the score is tied after three periods, a sudden-death shootout will determine the winner 
The Washington Capitals' Brian Sutherby won the Most Valuable Player for the Eastern Conference YoungStars by scoring two goals and an assist as the East cruised to an easy 8–3 victory  Hometown favourite Stephen Weiss also scored a goal and an assist for the East to thrill the Panthers fans in attendance 

Super Skills Competition
A traditional event followed the YoungStars game, with the NHL Skills Competition  The Western Conference won the competition 15–9, made memorable by hard-shooting defenseman Al MacInnis of the St  Louis Blues winning his seventh Hardest Shot event, and Colorado Avalanche's Patrick Roy allowed only a single goal through both of the Goaltending Competitions 

Individual Event winners
Puck Control Relay – Martin St  Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning)
Fastest Skater – Marian Gaborik (Minnesota Wild) - 13 713 seconds
Accuracy Shooting – Jeremy Roenick (Philadelphia Flyers) - 4 hits, 4 shots
Hardest Shot – Al MacInnis (St  Louis Blues)  - 98 9 mph (159 2 km/h)
Goaltenders Competition – Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche) - 1 GA, 9 shots

The game
On Sunday, February 2, the actual All-Star Game began  The Eastern Conference was forced to name five injury replacements to their roster, as Ed Belfour, Brian Leetch, Mario Lemieux, Saku Koivu and Mats Sundin were all out with injury  The Atlanta Thrashers' Dany Heatley opened the scoring for the Eastern Conference by scoring past Colorado Avalanche's Patrick Roy just five and a half minutes into the first period 
Colorado's Peter Forsberg and Dallas Stars' Mike Modano scored the next two goals to give the Western Conference a 2–1 lead  However, Heatley would score his second consecutive goal on Roy, tapping in a rebound of a shot by Washington Capitals' Jaromir Jagr to tie the score at 2, a bit more than halfway through the first period  Five minutes later, Minnesota Wild's Marian Gaborik scored by banging in Los Angeles Kings' Mathieu Schneider's rebound past Tampa Bay Lightning's Nikolai Khabibulin to restore the Western lead at 3–2, which remained at the end of the first period  Goaltenders Roy and Khabibulin would then be replaced by Chicago Blackhawks' Jocelyn Thibault and New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur for the West and the East, respectively 
The change of goaltenders made little difference for Heatley, as he finished his hat trick with a wrist shot past Thibault to tie the game at 3  For the third consecutive time, the West replied when Vancouver Canucks' Ed Jovanovski caught a deflection off the skate of Washington Capitals' Sergei Gonchar  Heatley then scored his fourth goal of the game by converting a pass from hometown hero Florida Panthers' Olli Jokinen and shooting it over Thibault's glove  Heatley's four goals in an All-Star game tied the previous records of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Vincent Damphousse and Mike Gartner and became the first player in All-Star history to score four goals with no one else scoring in between them 
No more goals were scored in the second period, and Ottawa Senators' Patrick Lalime came in to play goal for the Eastern Conference, while Dallas Stars' Marty Turco came in for the West  St  Louis Blues' Al MacInnis scored past Lalime's glove to give the West a 5–4 lead, a minute and a half into the third period 
Jokinen tied the game by taking a pass from Jaromir Jagr and skating in on a partial breakaway and putting a hard wrist shot past Turco to tie the game at 5  With ten minutes left in regulation, neither team were able to score on the two goaltender  The third period ended in a 5–5 tie and the winner of the 53rd NHL All-Star Game would have to be decided in overtime for the first time since 1988 
Patrick Lalime and Marty Turco remained in goal for the overtime, and preserved a scoreless extra period  For the first time in history, an NHL All-Star Game would be settled in a shootout  The Vancouver Canucks' Markus Naslund, Dallas Stars' Bill Guerin and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's Paul Kariya would score against Lalime for the Western Conference  On the other side, Turco only let in one goal in the shootout, which was scored by Dany Heatley  (Heatley's shootout goal did not count towards his regulation total of four, leaving him tied for the record ) The Western Conference won the game with a 6–5 shootout victory  Heatley, with a total of five points, was named All-Star MVP 

Uniforms
The NHL carried over the uniform design from the previous All-Star Game  Since the uniforms introduced the year before used the colors of the conference logos, the Western Conference used the same blue jersey worn by the 2002 North American team  However, due to the contrast issues from the 2002 game, the burgundy jersey worn by the World team was replaced with a white version worn by the Eastern Conference team  Both uniforms continued to feature black as the primary trim color, with silver and white accents  The player names and numbers on the back of the Western team's uniforms were rendered in black, however, leaving the uniforms completely devoid of the conference's burgundy color  Both teams continued to wear flag patches representing each player's homeland on the left shoulder  This would be the last use of national flags on the All-Star uniforms to date 

Summary
Referees: Dennis LaRue, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen: Jean Morin, Tim Nowak
Television: ABC, CBC, SRC

National Anthems
Canadian country singer Paul Brandt sang the Canadian national anthem while Cuban-American singer and Florida native Jorge Moreno sang the American national anthem 

Rosters
Notes

See also
2002–03 NHL season
Passage 4:
47th National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 1997 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on January 18, 1997, at San Jose Arena in San Jose, home of the San Jose Sharks  The final score was Eastern Conference 11, Western Conference 7   This game was originally scheduled for the 1994–95 season, but was cancelled due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout 

Super Skills Competition
The Eastern Conference won the skills competition for the first time since 1992  St  Louis Blues' Al MacInnis won the Hardest Shot event for the third time in his career by slapping the puck at 98 9 mph  Boston Bruins' defenceman Ray Bourque won the Shooting Accuracy event for the fourth time, hitting four targets in seven shots  Florida Panthers' goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck stopped all 10 shots by Mats Sundin and Derian Hatcher in Rapid-Fire Relay to outduel Colorado Avalanche netminder Patrick Roy who made nine saves   In the Power-Play Relay, Vanbiesbrouck allowed only two of six shots to elude him that were taken by Mighty Ducks of Anaheims' Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya to claim the Goaltenders Competition 

Individual Event winners
Puck Control Relay - Geoff Sanderson (Hartford Whalers)
Fastest Skater - Peter Bondra, (Washington Capitals) - 13 610 seconds
Accuracy Shooting - Ray Bourque, (Boston Bruins) - 4 hits, 7 shots
Hardest Shot - Al MacInnis, (St  Louis Blues) - 98 9 mph
Goaltenders Competition - John Vanbiesbrouck, (Florida Panthers) - 2 GA, 16 shots

The Game
Montreal Canadiens' right-winger Mark Recchi had a hat-trick to lead the Eastern Conference to an 11–7 victory and to be named All-Star M V P   Mark Recchi would become the fourth Montreal Canadien to receive the award   A record 10 goals was scored in the second period, including two from hometown favorite San Jose Sharks' right-winger Owen Nolan in a record eight seconds   Nolan would complete his hat-trick in the third period as he closed in on a breakaway towards Buffalo Sabres' goaltender Dominik Hasek  Nolan pointed to the top left corner and then fired a shot right off the bar top corner  Gary Thorne called it saying, "here come the chapeaus!"  The crowd erupted, throwing hats everywhere 

Boxscore
Referee: Rob Shick
Linesmen: Ron Asselstine, Bob Hodges, Leon Stickle
Television: FOX, CBC, SRC

See also
1996–97 NHL season

Notes
Passage 5:
52nd National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 2002 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place on February 2, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles  The final score was World 8, North America 5   This was the last NHL All-Star Game to have the North America vs  World All-Star format  It was also the last All-Star Game that was held in the same year as the Winter Olympics until the 2018 edition 

All-Star weekend
NHL YoungStars Game
The inaugural NHL YoungStars Game was played (replacing Heroes of Hockey old-timers game) featuring the future young stars of the NHL   The two teams were divided between Team Melrose and Team Fox  The game format had four skaters (and one goaltender) per side and the first two periods were for 12 minutes running time, and then the third period would run for 11 minutes, running time, plus a final minute of stop time  The teams were allowed a four-minute break between periods  If the score is tied after three periods, a sudden-murder shootout will determine the winner   Team Melrose would defeat Team Fox by a score of 13–7, as Atlanta Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk would score six goals for Team Melrose, with one of them being on a penalty shot   Kovalchuk was named as the first-ever YoungStars MVP 

Super Skills Competition
The World All-Stars would win their fourth and last skills competition barely defeating the North American All-Stars by a score of 12–11   In the individual events, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim' Paul Kariya would win his fourth-straight Puck Control Relay event, while Carolina Hurricanes' Sami Kapanen would win his second Fastest Skater event and Detroit Red Wings' Sergei Fedorov would win his first Hardest Shot event   Two individual events would be shared as Calgary Flames' Jarome Iginla and Vancouver Canucks' Markus Naslund would share the Accuracy Shooting event title and Colorado Avalanche's Patrick Roy and Detroit Red Wings' Dominik Hasek would win the Goaltenders Competition after the Pass and Score and Breakaway Relay events 

Individual event winners
Puck Control Relay – Paul Kariya (Mighty Ducks of Anaheim)
Fastest Skater – Sami Kapanen (Carolina Hurricanes) - 14 039 seconds
Accuracy Shooting – Jarome Iginla (Calgary Flames)/Markus Naslund (Vancouver Canucks) - 4 hits, 6 shots
Hardest Shot – Sergei Fedorov (Detroit Red Wings)  - 101 5 mph
Goaltenders Competition – Patrick Roy (Colorado Avalanche)/Dominik Hasek (Detroit Red Wings) - 1 GA, 9 shots

The game
The 52nd NHL All-Star Game was highlighted by Pittsburgh Penguins' Mario Lemieux's 13th career goal which tied Wayne Gretzky for the most goals scored in All-Star Game competition, Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin's flawless third period and a flawed MVP selection process   Three players would put up three-point performances that included North American All-Stars Chicago Blackhawks' leftwinger Eric Daze (2–1–3) and San Jose Sharks' centre Vincent Damphousse (1–2–3), while Vancouver Canucks' left winger Markus Naslund (2–1–3) would be the only player for the World All-Stars to score three points   The World All-Stars rallied for 5 goals in the third period and a comeback win  Daze who was appearing in his first All-Star Game, was chosen as All-Star MVP, becoming the first Blackhawk player to win the award since 1971 when Bobby Hull won the award  A minor controversy ensued over the MVP selection, as World All-Stars goalie Khabibulin recorded a third period shutout that allowed his team to storm back from 5-3 down  Apparently voting was conducted with about 5 minutes remaining in the game while the North American All-Stars still held the lead  Afterwards the talk in both locker rooms was about the Russian goaltender's play, what it might mean for the upcoming Olympics in two weeks and their disappointment that his 20 save performance didn't win him an honor, which many of them thought was both deserved and obvious 

Uniforms
Continuing from the previous two All-Star Games, the NHL continued to use a color-vs color format  The North American team's jersey was the same shade of blue as the logo of the Eastern Conference, the same shade of blue previously used by the World team in 1998 and 1999; the jersey also featured the first tie-down collar in the All-Star Game since 1970  The World team used the Western Conference's burgundy color, and a unique horizontal-cut collar  Both uniforms featured predominantly black trim with silver and white accents, and a scooped hemline that would become prevalent with the Reebok Edge and Adidas ADIZERO uniform systems  Although the game was hosted by the Kings, the name and number fonts used on the All-Star jerseys were similar to those used by the Nashville Predators 
Due to complaints about the uniforms being too dark and lacking sufficient contrast to each other, the NHL would replace the burgundy jersey with a white one in the next year's game 

Summary
Referees: Dave Jackson, Don Van Massenhoven
Linesmen: Andy McElman, Mark Pare
Television: ABC, CBC, SRC

Rosters
Notes
1 ^ Eric Lindros was selected, but was unable to play due to injury  Mike York was selected as his replacement 
2 ^ Brian Rafalski was selected, but was unable to play due to injury  Chris Chelios was selected as his replacement 
3 ^ Jere Lehtinen was selected, but was unable to play due to injury  Espen Knutsen was named as his replacement 
Passage 6:
NBL Canada All-Star Game
The NBL Canada All-Star Game was an exhibition game hosted by the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL)  The first edition was held in 2012 and included ten players per team, randomly divided under captains Joey Haywood and Eddie Smith  In the final two editions in 2013 and 2014, players were divided into a Central Division team and an Atlantic Division team  In 2014, the players have decided on the coaches' votes  The game takes place alongside multiple other competitions, together known as All-Star Weekend  These competitions include the Three-Point Long Distance Shootout and the Slam Dunk Championship 

Results
See also
List of NBL Canada All-Stars
Passage 7:
NHL All-Star Skills Competition
The National Hockey League All-Star Skills Competition, officially the NHL All-Star Game SuperSkills Competition during certain past years, is an event on the night preceding the National Hockey League All-Star Game  Started at the 41st National Hockey League All-Star Game in Pittsburgh in 1990, the NHL uses the event to showcase the talents of its all-star participants  The All-Star teams select representatives for each event, with points awarded to the winning team 

Current events
Through 2023

Accuracy Shooting
The purpose of the event is to hit the four targets attached to the four corners of a goal in the fastest time  Prior to 2011, the object of the event was to hit all four targets in as few attempts as possible  Under this format, seven players have gone four-for-four: Ray Bourque in 1992 and 1993, Mark Messier in 1996, Jeremy Roenick in 2004, Tomas Kaberle in 2008, Evgeni Malkin in 2009, Daniel Sedin in 2011, plus Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson and twice with Connor McDavid in 2023  Sedin is the current record holder, hitting 4/4 targets in 7 3 seconds  For the 2018 competition, the traditional foam targets were replaced with LED targets that light up to show the player where to shoot the puck next  During the 2019 Skills Competition, the LED light-up targets featured face emojis of four all-star NHL players  The 2020 competition introduced a fifth target in the center of the net, with the targets showing each player's name, team logo, All-Star Game logo, number of All-Star appearances by that player, and uniform number  The 2023 edition reverted to the four foam targets, but also introduced a knock-out style to the competition  As a result, while having the best time of the night, McDavid would ultimately be third in the competition, being beat by Kadri in the semi-finals 

Winners
^ #:Score in final round is listed

Breakaway Challenge
From the 2007–08 season onwards, the Breakaway Challenge format was changed to a "slam dunk" style challenge, where individual shooters showcase creative and skillful breakaways, with the winner being determined by fan voting via text messaging 

Winners
Fastest skater
The purpose of the event is to be fastest skater around a designated course within the rink  The final race each year was originally one full lap around the rink until 2008, when the event was revised to a course, only to be changed back to one full lap after 2015  In 2016, American-born Dylan Larkin finished with a time of 13 172, setting the record 

Winners
* - Player was part of the All-Star Rookies; participated in the Skills Competition, but not the All-Star Game 

Hardest Shot
The purpose of the event is to have the hardest shot  Martin Frk owns the record for the hardest shot in hockey with 109 2 mph during the 2020 AHL all-star competition  Zdeno Chara owns the NHL record for the hardest shot with 108 8 mph (175 1 km/h) in 2012, besting his own previous record of 105 9 in 2011  Prior to Chara the record was held by Al Iafrate at 105 2 mph  After Chara, Shea Weber holds the 3 hardest shots in 2015 and 2016, with 108 5 mph (174 6 km/h) in 2015, 108 1 (174 km/h) and 107 8 (173 5 km/h) on his post-match gala shot  (The world record is 110 3 mph (177 5 km/h) held by Denis Kulyash)
Al MacInnis holds the record for the most number of hardest shot wins at seven total (with an * on his speeds, as Al MacInnis always used a wooden stick, rather than the reinforced composite/foam that modern sticks are made out of, because he said he got more accuracy with a wooden stick  He likely would have had a faster shot using the more modern sticks) 

Winners
Past Events
The following is a partial list of past events:

Breakaway Relay
The Breakaway Relay was held from 1991 to 2007  The purpose of the event is to use teamwork to score on a breakaway against an opposing goalie  Points are awarded to the team with the most goals and the individual goalie who lets in the fewest goals 

Winners
Elimination Shootout
The Elimination Shootout was held from 2008 to 2012  The purpose of the event is for individual scorers to try to score on a breakaway against an opposing goalie  Shooters who score stay alive in the contest while those failing to score are eliminated  The contest goes until all shooters are eliminated but one, with that shooter being the winner 

Winners
Elite Women's 3-on-3 Hockey
The Elite Women's 3-on-3 Hockey was held in 2020  Twenty of the best women's players in the world competed in a 20-minute, 3-on-3 game, with ten American All-Stars facing off against ten Canadian All-Stars There was two 10-minute periods with a running clock (except last minute of regulation and penalty shots)  Teams switch ends after one period of play  Penalties will be "served" with penalty shot being awarded to the player fouled  And in the event of a tie, there will be a 3-minute sudden death overtime with a running clock to determine the winner  If tied after overtime, a sudden death shootout will occur 
Rosters
Team Canada
Forwards: Meghan Agosta, Melodie Daoust, Rebecca Johnston, Sarah Nurse, Marie-Philip Poulin, Natalie Spooner and Blayre Turnbull 
Defensemen: Renata Fast and Laura Fortino 
Goaltender: Ann-Renee Desbiens 
Coach: Jayna Hefford
Team USA
Forwards: Anne Pankowski, Alex Carpenter, Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, Hilary Knight, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson 
Defensemen: Kacey Bellamy and Lee Stecklein
Goaltender: Alex Rigsby Cavallini 
Coach: Cammi Granato

Winners
Four Line Challenge
The Four Line Challenge was held in 2017  The purpose of this event is for four skaters from each team to earn points by scoring goals from each line on the ice 

1st skater – two shots from near blue line  Goal in upper corners of the net = 1 point 
2nd skater – two shots from center ice  Goal in lower corners = 1 point  Goal in upper corners = 3 points 
3rd skater – two shots from far blue line  Goal in lower center corner ("five hole") = 1 point  Goal in upper corners = 5 points 
4th skater – two shots from far goal line  Goal in "five hole" = 10 points  If goalie scores = 20 points 

Winners
Goaltenders competition
The Goaltenders competition was held from 1990 to 2007  Points are awarded to the goalie allowing the fewest goals against in the Zone and Shootout/Breakaway Relay Events 

Winners
NHL Shooting Stars
The NHL Shooting Stars was held in 2020  It had players shooting from an elevated platform approximately 30 feet above the ice surface of the rink located in the seating bowl  Each Player shoots 7 pucks, scoring points for each target hit  (The arch target in center ice is 145 feet from the shooting platform)  Players may hit the same target multiple times  In event of a tie, a sudden death "score-off" will occur 

Winners
NHL Shootout
The NHL Shootout was held from 2015 to 2017  The purpose of this event is for individual shooters to try to score on a breakaway against an opposing goalie  It is similar to the past event, Elimination Shootout; however, the shooter is not eliminated  The contest continues for three 2-minute rounds as six skaters from each team per round get a chance to score on the opposing team's goalie, gathering enough points until time runs out  Goals scored with game pucks equal 1 point, while Discover shootout pucks equal 2 points 

Winners
Passing Challenge/Premier Passer
The Passing Challenge made its debut in 2018, and was renamed Premier Passer in 2019  The purpose of this event is for skaters to earn points for their division by passing the puck to various targets, courses and nets in the fastest time possible  Note: Each skill must be completed before moving on to the next station 

Target Passing: each player must complete four successful passes to the targets that randomly light up 
Give and Go: each player must successfully complete the four required passes through the course
Context 3: Passage 1:
Canton Road
Canton Road is a major road in Hong Kong, linking the former west reclamation shore in Tsim Sha Tsui, Jordan, Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok and Prince Edward on the Kowloon Peninsula  The road runs mostly parallel and west to Nathan Road  It starts from the junction with Salisbury Road in the south and ends in the north at the junction with Lai Chi Kok Road in the Prince Edward area  The southern section of Canton Road is home to many upscale retail shops, shopping centres and others business establishments, with busy traffic from both vehicles and pedestrians from morning till late at night 

Name
The road was originally named MacDonnell Road  It was renamed to Canton Road in 1909 to avoid confusion with MacDonnell Road on Hong Kong Island 
The road is named after the City of Canton (now Guangzhou, 廣州), following a pattern where roads in the area were named after cities in China and Vietnam  However, an error resulted in Canton being interpreted as referring to the Province of Canton (Now Guangdong, 廣東), resulting in the Chinese name of the road becoming 廣東道 instead of the intended 廣州道 

Sections and features
Canton Road is not one continuous road, instead, it is divided into four sections, interrupted by a major housing estate (Prosperous Garden) and disjointed by a traffic intersection (Jordan Road) as the result of urban development in the past hundred years 
The following list follows a south-north order  (W) indicates the western side of the road, while (E) indicates the eastern side 

Tsim Sha Tsui section
The section starts at Salisbury Road and ends at Jordan Road  Features include:

(W) Star House, at the intersection with Salisbury Road and facing the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier Bus Terminus
(E) Former Marine Police Headquarters Compound, at the intersection with Salisbury Road  A declared monument, it has been renamed "1881 Heritage" and re-developed into a shopping mall and hotel 
(W) Harbour City, which contains the Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotel, the Ocean Terminal, the Ocean Centre and The Gateway
(E) One Peking office and shopping mall tower, at the junction with Peking Road
(E) > junction with Peking Road
(E) Silvercord (新港中心) and the Silvercord Arcade (No  30), at the junction with Haiphong Road
(E) > junction with Haiphong Road
(E) > junction with Kowloon Park Drive
(W) China Hong Kong City, which contains the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal
(E) A small portion of Kowloon Park
(E) Lai Chack Middle School (No  180)
(W) Tsim Sha Tsui Fire Station (No  333)
(E) Victoria Towers (No  188), at the junction with Austin Road
(E) > junction with Austin Road
(W) Exit F of Austin MTR station
(W) [Demolished] Canton Road Government Offices (廣東道政府合署) (No  393)  It was one of the oldest remaining government office buildings at the time of its demolition in 2011 
(E) > junction with Bowring Street
(W) > junction with Wui Cheung Road
(E) King George V Memorial Park, Kowloon at the intersection with Jordan Road

Jordan to Yau Ma Tei section
The section starts at Jordan Road and ends at Public Square Street  The part of this section between Jordan Road and Kansu Street is sometimes called "Jade Street" because of the number of jewellery shops selling jade 
(W) Giant jade stone near the intersection with Jordan Road (north side)
(E) > junction with Nanking Street
(E) > junction with Ning Po Street
> intersection with Saigon Street
(E) No  578 Canton Road, a building proposed for conservation, at the intersection with Saigon Street
(E) > junction with Pak Hoi Street
> intersection with Kansu Street
(W) Yau Ma Tei Police Station, a Grade III historic building, at the intersection with Public Square StreetThe road is interrupted north of Public Square Street, and Prosperous Garden, a housing estate, is located in its place  The Broadway Cinematheque is located within Prosperous Garden 

Yau Ma Tei section
This very short section (about 30m long) starts at Tung Kun Street, north of Prosperous Garden and ends at the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market, a Grade III historic building  This section is bordered by two schools:

(W) Tung Koon District Society Fong Shu Chuen School
(E) Wanchai Church Kei To School

Yau Ma Tei to Prince Edward section
The section starts at Waterloo Road, north of the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market and ends at Lai Chi Kok Road  This section features a street market in the Mong Kok area 
> intersection with Pitt Street
(E) > junction with Hamilton Street
> intersection with Dundas Street
> intersection with Soy Street
> intersection with Shantung Street
> intersection with Nelson Street
(W) > junction with Nam Tau Street
(W) Mongkok Market Complex between the junctions with Nam Tau Street and Argyle Street
> intersection with Argyle Street
(W) China Cafe (No  1077A), a cha chaan teng featured in several Hong Kong films, including the 2001 Fulltime Killer, the 2003 PTU, the 2005 Election and the 2007 Whispers and Moans 
(E) > junction with Fife Street
> intersection with Mong Kok Road
> intersection with Bute Street
> intersection with Arran Street
> intersection with Prince Edward Road West
(W) No  1235 Canton Road, tong-lau proposed for conservation

West Rail line (Tuen Ma Line)
It was proposed that a station, Canton Road on the Kowloon Southern Link of the West Rail line, could be built beneath the Tsim Sha Tsui section of the road, outside Harbour City  The plan was put off after unsuccessful negotiation between KCRC and The Wharf on financial arrangement  Another station, Austin, near the junction of Canton Road and Wui Cheung Road in Kwun Chung opened on 16 August 2009 

In popular culture
The final shootout sequence of the 2003 film PTU, directed by Johnnie To, takes place in Canton Road  The sequence was actually shot in Ap Lei Chau 

Gallery
Tsim Sha Tsui section
See also
Shanghai Street, a 2 3 km long street, generally parallel to Canton Road and Nathan Road
List of streets and roads in Hong Kong
Passage 2:
Jimaní
Jimaní is the capital and the second largest city of the Independencia Province of the Dominican Republic  It serves as one of the two main border crossings to Haiti (with Dajabón), with a duty-free open-air marketplace operating on the border with Haiti  The town suffered damages in the flash flood of May 25, 2004, which killed many citizens during the night and washed away hundreds of homes 

History
The name "Ximani" is of native Taíno origin  Historian Rafael Leonidas Pérez y Pérez in his book "Annotations on the history of Jimaní", says that Ximani was a Cacique of the chieftainship of Xaragua who had control of the town that lied in the middle of the two lakes, Lake Enriquillo and Lake Azuei, as well as the pass that leads to Pic la Selle making it a strategical and important part of the island  The name "Ximaní" is recognized when the Spaniards signed a peace agreement with the natives through Enriquillo at "the Lagoon of Ximaní" in 1536 
Another version claims the name belongs to a French Count (Count of Jimaní)  General Paul Decayette, the Conde de Jimani and member of the Court of Faustin Soulouque, invades through the north  He is confronted and beaten by the Dominican army in Sabana Larga near the town of Dajabón  The exact date was January 24, 1856  With this victory the Dominicans put an end to the 12 years Dominican-Haitian War, one of the longest wars of independence in the Western Hemisphere (though with intermissions)  Pérez y Pérez clarifies however that this official, was called "of Jimani" because of him having owned that land, which was awarded to him during the expansion of the French occupation  The historian argues that the French did not occupy the west side of the island, particularly that territory, until the mid 18th century 
By the time of the Dominican War of Independence, Jimani was practically deserted with most of the fighting taking place in Neiba  After the independence of 1844 the earliest inhabitants of Jimaní came from various communities of the southwest, such as Neiba, Duvergé, El Estero, Las Salinas, Azua de Compostela, Santa Cruz de Barahona, and Haitian immigrants from the mountains that married or had common-law marriages with Dominicans, forming families in the most populous neighborhood of the community, known as Jimaní Viejo  By the 1930s Jimaní belonged to Neiba and in 1938 it became part of the commune of La Descubierta, forming a part of the Province of Baoruco 
On the 18 of March 1943, by means of the law number 229, Jimani was elevated to municipal district  On December 29, 1948, the province of Baoruco was split into two provinces, the west side receiving the name of Independence Province  On January 1, 1950, Jimani officially became the Capital of the new province Independencia 

Climate
Lying in a valley in the rain shadow of the northeast trade winds, Jimaní has a hot semi-arid climate with relatively constant temperatures throughout the course of the year  Annual rainfall is bimodal, peaking in May and October; the dry season occurs from December through February 

Economy
Agriculture and commerce with Haiti represent the main economic activities of this municipality  In agriculture the main products are cassava, batata, melon, peppers, cilantro and tomatoes Jimaní has a popular duty-free open-air marketplace with Haiti that is also visited by people from adjoining towns and even from distant regions of the country  In this market, basic food products are sold, as well as foreign beverages, clothes, shoes, and new and used electrical appliances 
The customs zone of the border is called "The Door" and it is visited by foreign tourists that come to observe the dynamics of the business and intercultural and interracial relation between Dominicans and Haitians 
The municipal City Hall receives monthly RD$1,000,000 as mandated by the General Law of Budget, through the Dominican Municipal League  The authorities of the City Hall estimate the internal tax collection to be about $15,000 monthly The municipal districts El Limón and Boca de Cachón receive monthly $500,000 each one, from the transfer ordered by the law through the Dominican Municipal League 
There are two financial institutions in Jimaní  A branch office of the Reserve Bank and a branch office of the Cooperative of Savings and Credit of Neiba (Coopacrene) 

Education
There are six basic schools with two daily schedules and four public high schools, three of them for adults 

Health
The municipality has a municipal hospital and four rural clinics or hospitals  The majority of the Jimanisenses prefer to seek medical attention in the Regional University Hospital Jaime Mota of Barahona 

Culture and religion
Jimaní is mostly Catholic  Local holidays are celebrated March 19, in honor of their Saint San José  A carnival is being added to the Patronal Feast, to expand the celebration  Also being instituted is the celebration of a Cultural Week each year, in memory of the flood that destroyed a big part of the population in May 2004 
As a historic-cultural monument, Jimaní conserves intact and conditioned the "Mansion of Trujillo", one of many the dictator built in the border region, although he never spent the night in this particular one 

Public works
Local governments have carried out different works for the community, such as the reconstruction and restructuring of the municipal cemetery, the reconstruction of street gutters, rehabilitation of electric lighting in the urban area and in the sector of Tierra Nueva  There are also ongoing projects to enlarge the aqueduct network for the neighborhoods of La Cu and El Cerro 

Organizations
In Jimaní there are several community associations  For example, in each of the towns that conform the municipality there is an Association of Farmers as well as an Association of Mothers 
There is also a Lions Club, the Association of Minibuses Jimaní-Barahona, a committee that represents the Association of "Jimanisenses" in Massachusetts, US, a technical team of World Vision, Fundasur (Foundation of the South) and Conani (the National Council for Childhood and Adolescence) 
Passage 3:
Ahiara
Ahiara is a city in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria  The city stands about 16 miles between Owere and Umuahia  It was the location of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu's Ahiara Declaration during the Nigerian Civil War  It is the location of the Catholic diocese in Mbaise  The first recorded Ahiara contact with the Europeans was around 1905 when the British Aro expedition got mixed up in inter-village war which eventually had Dr  Steward a victim, as a consequence the Ahiara people were severely punished by the British forces with an invasion which forced many citizens to flee and never return 
The Ahiara Slogan is Decent Dexterity 

Origin
Ahiara was founded by a man of that name  He was the son of Anunu, popularly called Odo ji Anunu  His sibling Avuvu became a part of Ikeduru  Etymologically, the name Ahiara is a type of plant among the Igbo people  The leaves of this plant signify peace  The great Ezes of Igbo used to travel with Ahiara leaves to guarantee peaceful journeys across several territories  Before Christianity, which 89 percent of the people practice, traditional religion held sway  Ahiara does not practise a centralized system of government  The ten chief priests and chief priestess were the symbol of authority and they occasionally met to deliberate and pass motions which eventually became tradition and laws  They also conferred titles to deserving citizens  Among those was Hon Nze H C  O Uhegbu who was conferred with the title of Nze Onugotu of Ahiara as at the time he was the first man in Ahiara to represent the clan in the state legislature 

Ahiara Ofo Iri
Ahiara city is historically called Ahiara Ofo Iri, which means Ahiara of the Ten Scepters  Each scepter represents each of the ten villages that make up the city  The ten villages of Ahiara are:

Ahiara is divided into two sections: Ihite and Ikenga 

Ihite consists of these five villages: Obodo, Nnarambia, Oru na Nneude, Otulu, and Ogbe 
Ikenga consists of these five villages: Akabo, Amuzi, Agu na Eze, Ogwuama, and Ujichi These ten villages are symbolically explained as the ten fingers of the human hands  This signifies an evolved dexterity and is why the Ahiara Slogan is Decent Dexterity 
The Mater Ecclesiae Cathedral in Ahiara is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahiara 
Passage 4:
Yau Ma Tei North (constituency)
Yau Ma Tei North (Chinese: 油麻地北) is one of the 19 constituencies in the Yau Tsim Mong District of Hong Kong which was first created in 1982 and recreated in 2015 
The constituency loosely covers Yau Ma Tei with the estimated population of 12,817 

Councillors represented
1982–85
1985–94
2015 to present
Election results
2010s
1990s
1980s
Passage 5:
Zacharovce
Zacharovce (Hungarian: Zeherje) is a village and municipality in the Rimavská Sobota District of the Banská Bystrica Region of southern Slovakia  Located in the near of the main road I/50, connecting Zvolen and Košice the village is now more a living neighbourhood of Rimavská Sobota, where many citizens go for a work  The most important sightseeing is a gothic church from 15th century, later rebuilt 
Passage 6:
Hong Kong
Hong Kong (US:  or UK: ; Chinese: 香港, Cantonese: [hœ́ːŋ kɔ̌ːŋ] (listen)), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr  Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and a special administrative region in China  With 7 4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated territories in the world 
Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island in 1841-1842  The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898  Hong Kong was shortly occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II  The whole territory was transferred from Britain to China in 1997  Hong Kong maintains separate governing and economic systems from that of mainland China under the principle of "one country, two systems" Originally a sparsely populated area of farming and fishing villages, the territory is now one of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports  Hong Kong is the world's fourth-ranked global financial centre, ninth-largest exporter, and eighth-largest importer  Its currency, the Hong Kong dollar, is the eighth most traded currency in the world  Home to the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, Hong Kong has the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals  Although the city has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, severe income inequality exists among the population  Despite having the largest number of skyscrapers of any city in the world, housing in Hong Kong has been well-documented to experience a chronic persistent shortage 
Hong Kong is a highly developed territory and has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0 952, ranking fourth in the world  The city has a very low homicide rate, the second highest life expectancy, and a public transport rate exceeding 90% 

Etymology
The name of the territory, first romanised as "He-Ong-Kong" in 1780, originally referred to a small inlet located between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island  Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen  Although the source of the romanised name is unknown, it is generally believed to be an early phonetic rendering of the Cantonese (or Tanka Cantonese) phrase hēung góng  The name translates as "fragrant harbour" or "incense harbour"  "Fragrant" may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's freshwater influx from the Pearl River or to the odour from incense factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon  The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Victoria Harbour was developed  Sir John Davis (the second colonial governor) offered an alternative origin; Davis said that the name derived from "Hoong-keang" ("red torrent"), reflecting the colour of soil over which a waterfall on the island flowed The simplified name Hong Kong was frequently used by 1810  The name was also commonly written as the single word Hongkong until 1926, when the government officially adopted the two-word name  Some corporations founded during the early colonial era still keep this name, including Hongkong Land, Hongkong Electric Company, Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) 

History
Prehistory and Imperial China
Earliest known human traces in what is now Hong Kong are dated by some to 35,000 and 39,000 years ago during the Paleolithic period  The claim is based on an archaeological investigation in Wong Tei Tung, Sai Kung in 2003  The archaeological works revealed knapped stone tools from deposits that were dated using optical luminescence dating During the Middle Neolithic period, about 6,000 years ago, the region had been widely occupied by humans  Neolithic to Bronze Age Hong Kong settlers were semi-coastal people  Early inhabitants are believed to be Austronesians in the Middle Neolithic period and later the Yueh people  As hinted by the archaeological works in Sha Ha, Sai Kung, rice cultivation had been introduced since Late Neolithic period  Bronze Age Hong Kong featured coarse pottery, hard pottery, quartz and stone jewelry, as well as small bronze implements The Qin dynasty incorporated the Hong Kong area into China for the first time in 214 BCE, after conquering the indigenous Baiyue  The region was consolidated under the Nanyue kingdom (a predecessor state of Vietnam) after the Qin collapse and recaptured by China after the Han conquest  During the Mongol conquest of China in the 13th century, the Southern Song court was briefly located in modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before its final defeat in the 1279 Battle of Yamen by the Yuan Dynasty  By the end of the Yuan dynasty, seven large families had settled in the region and owned most of the land  Settlers from nearby provinces migrated to Kowloon throughout the Ming dynasty The earliest European visitor was Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares, who arrived in 1513  Portuguese merchants established a trading post called Tamão in Hong Kong waters and began regular trade with southern China  Although the traders were expelled after military clashes in the 1520s, Portuguese-Chinese trade relations were re-established by 1549  Portugal acquired a permanent lease for Macau in 1557 After the Qing conquest, maritime trade was banned under the Haijin policies  From 1661 to 1683, the population of most of the area forming present day Hong Kong was cleared under the Great Clearance, turning the region into a wasteland  The Kangxi Emperor lifted the maritime trade prohibition, allowing foreigners to enter Chinese ports in 1684  Qing authorities established the Canton System in 1757 to regulate trade more strictly, restricting non-Russian ships to the port of Canton  Although European demand for Chinese commodities like tea, silk, and porcelain was high, Chinese interest in European manufactured goods was insignificant, so that Chinese goods could only be bought with precious metals  To reduce the trade imbalance, the British sold large amounts of Indian opium to China  Faced with a drug crisis, Qing officials pursued ever more aggressive actions to halt the opium trade 

British colony
In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor rejected proposals to legalise and tax opium and ordered imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to eradicate the opium trade  The commissioner destroyed opium stockpiles and halted all foreign trade, triggering a British military response and the First Opium War  The Qing surrendered early in the war and ceded Hong Kong Island in the Convention of Chuenpi  British forces began controlling Hong Kong shortly after the signing of the convention, from 26 January 1841  However, both countries were dissatisfied and did not ratify the agreement  After more than a year of further hostilities, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded to the United Kingdom in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking Administrative infrastructure was quickly built by early 1842, but piracy, disease, and hostile Qing policies initially prevented the government from attracting commerce  Conditions on the island improved during the Taiping Rebellion in the 1850s, when many Chinese refugees, including wealthy merchants, fled mainland turbulence and settled in the colony  Further tensions between the British and Qing over the opium trade escalated into the Second Opium War  The Qing were again defeated and forced to give up Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island in the Convention of Peking  By the end of this war, Hong Kong had evolved from a transient colonial outpost into a major entrepôt  Rapid economic improvement during the 1850s attracted foreign investment, as potential stakeholders became more confident in Hong Kong's future The colony was further expanded in 1898 when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories  The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first institution of higher education  Kai Tak Airport began operation in 1924, and the colony avoided a prolonged economic downturn after the 1925–26 Canton–Hong Kong strike  At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared Hong Kong a neutral zone to safeguard its status as a free port  The colonial government prepared for a possible attack, evacuating all British women and children in 1940  The Imperial Japanese Army attacked Hong Kong on 8 December 1941, the same morning as its attack on Pearl Harbor  Hong Kong was occupied by Japan for almost four years before Britain resumed control on 30 August 1945 

Its population rebounded quickly after the war, as skilled Chinese migrants fled from the Chinese Civil War and more refugees crossed the border when the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China in 1949  Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies to industrialise during the 1950s  With a rapidly increasing population, the colonial government attempted reforms to improve infrastructure and public services  The public-housing estate programme, Independent Commission Against Corruption, and Mass Transit Railway were all established during the post-war decades to provide safer housing, integrity in the civil service, and more reliable transportation Nevertheless, widespread public discontent resulted in multiple protests from the 1950s to 1980s, including pro-Republic of China and pro-Chinese Communist Party protests  In the 1967 Hong Kong riots, pro-PRC protestors clashed with the British colonial government  As many as 51 were killed and 802 were injured in the violence, including dozens killed by the Royal Hong Kong Police via beatings and shootings Although the territory's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined because of rising labour and property costs, it transitioned to a service-based economy  By the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre and shipping hub 

Chinese special administrative region
The colony faced an uncertain future as the end of the New Territories lease approached, and Governor Murray MacLehose raised the question of Hong Kong's status with Deng Xiaoping in 1979  Diplomatic negotiations with China resulted in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which the United Kingdom agreed to transfer the colony in 1997 and China would guarantee Hong Kong's economic and political systems for 50 years after the transfer  The impending transfer triggered a wave of mass emigration as residents feared an erosion of civil rights, the rule of law, and quality of life  Over half a million people left the territory during the peak migration period, from 1987 to 1996  The Legislative Council became a fully elected legislature for the first time in 1995 and extensively expanded its functions and organisations throughout the last years of the colonial rule  Hong Kong was transferred to China on 1 July 1997, after 156 years of British rule Immediately after the transfer, Hong Kong was severely affected by several crises  The Hong Kong government was forced to use substantial foreign exchange reserves to maintain the Hong Kong dollar's currency peg during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and the recovery from this was muted by an H5N1 avian-flu outbreak and a housing surplus  This was followed by the 2003 SARS epidemic, during which the territory experienced its most serious economic downturn Political debates after the transfer of sovereignty have centred around the region's democratic development and the Chinese central government's adherence to the "one country, two systems" principle  After reversal of the last colonial era Legislative Council democratic reforms following the handover, the regional government unsuccessfully attempted to enact national security legislation pursuant to Article 23 of the Basic Law  The central government decision to implement nominee pre-screening before allowing chief executive elections triggered a series of protests in 2014 which became known as the Umbrella Revolution  Discrepancies in the electoral registry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016 Legislative Council elections and enforcement of national law in the West Kowloon high-speed railway station raised further concerns about the region's autonomy  In June 2019, mass protests erupted in response to a proposed extradition amendment bill permitting the extradition of fugitives to mainland China  The protests are the largest in Hong Kong's history, with organisers claiming to have attracted more than three million Hong Kong residents 
The Hong Kong regional government and Chinese central government responded to the protests with a number of administrative measures to quell dissent  In June 2020, the Legislative Council passed the National Anthem Ordinance, which criminalised "insults to the national anthem of China"  The Chinese central government meanwhile enacted the Hong Kong national security law to help quell protests in the region  Nine months later, in March 2021, the Chinese central government introduced amendments to Hong Kong's electoral system, which included the reduction of directly elected seats in the Legislative Council and the requirement that all candidates be vetted and approved by a Beijing-appointed Candidate Eligibility Review Committee 

Government and politics
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, with executive, legislative, and judicial powers devolved from the national government  The Sino-British Joint Declaration provided for economic and administrative continuity through the transfer of sovereignty, resulting in an executive-led governing system largely inherited from the territory's history as a British colony  Under these terms and the "one country, two systems" principle, the Basic Law of Hong Kong is the regional constitution  The regional government is composed of three branches:

Executive: The Chief Executive is responsible for enforcing regional law, can force reconsideration of legislation, and appoints Executive Council members and principal officials  Acting with the Executive Council, the Chief Executive-in-Council can propose new bills, issue subordinate legislation, and has authority to dissolve the legislature  In states of emergency or public danger, the Chief Executive-in-Council is further empowered to enact any regulation necessary to restore public order 
Legislature: The unicameral Legislative Council enacts regional law, approves budgets, and has the power to impeach a sitting chief executive 
Judiciary: The Court of Final Appeal and lower courts interpret laws and overturn those inconsistent with the Basic Law  Judges are appointed by the chief executive on the advice of a recommendation commission The chief executive is the head of government and serves for a maximum of two five-year terms  The State Council (led by the Premier of China) appoints the chief executive after nomination by the Election Committee, which is composed of 1500 business, community, and government leaders The Legislative Council has 90 members, each serving a four-year term  Twenty are directly elected from geographical constituencies, thirty-five represent functional constituencies (FC), and forty are chosen by an election committee consisting of representatives appointed by the Chinese central government  Thirty FC councillors are selected from limited electorates representing sectors of the economy or special interest groups, and the remaining five members are nominated from sitting district council members and selected in region-wide double direct elections  All popularly elected members are chosen by proportional representation  The 30 limited electorate functional constituencies fill their seats using first-past-the-post or instant-runoff voting Twenty-two political parties had representatives elected to the Legislative Council in the 2016 election  These parties have aligned themselves into three ideological groups: the pro-Beijing camp (the current government), the pro-democracy camp, and localist groups  The Chinese Communist Party does not have an official political presence in Hong Kong, and its members do not run in local elections  Hong Kong is represented in the National People's Congress by 36 deputies chosen through an electoral college and 203 delegates in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference appointed by the central government 

Chinese national law does not generally apply in the region, and Hong Kong is treated as a separate jurisdiction  Its judicial system is based on common law, continuing the legal tradition established during British rule  Local courts may refer to precedents set in English law and overseas jurisprudence  However, mainland criminal procedure law applies to cases investigated by the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR  Interpretative and amending power over the Basic Law and jurisdiction over acts of state lie with the central authority, making regional courts ultimately subordinate to the mainland's socialist civil law system  Decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress override any territorial judicial process  Furthermore, in circumstances where the Standing Committee declares a state of emergency in Hong Kong, the State Council may enforce national law in the region The territory's jurisdictional independence is most apparent in its immigration and taxation policies  The Immigration Department issues passports for permanent residents which differ from those of the mainland or Macau, and the region maintains a regulated border with the rest of the country  All travellers between Hong Kong and China and Macau must pass through border controls, regardless of nationality  Mainland Chinese citizens do not have right of abode in Hong Kong and are subject to immigration controls  Public finances are handled separately from the national government; taxes levied in Hong Kong do not fund the central authority The Hong Kong Garrison of the People's Liberation Army is responsible for the region's defence  Although the Chairman of the Central Military Commission is supreme commander of the armed forces, the regional government may request assistance from the garrison  Hong Kong residents are not required to perform military service, and current law has no provision for local enlistment, so its defence is composed entirely of non-Hongkongers The central government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle diplomatic matters, but Hong Kong retains the ability to maintain separate economic and cultural relations with foreign nations  The territory actively participates in the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the International Olympic Committee, and many United Nations agencies  The regional government maintains trade offices in Greater China and other nations The imposition of the Hong Kong national security law by the central government in Beijing in June 2020 resulted in the suspension of bilateral extradition treaties by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, and Ireland  The United States ended its preferential economic and trade treatment of Hong Kong in July 2020 because it was no longer able to distinguish Hong Kong as a separate entity from the People's Republic of China 

Administrative divisions
The territory is divided into 18 districts, each represented by a district council  These advise the government on local issues such as public facility provisioning, community programme maintenance, cultural promotion, and environmental policy  There are a total of 479 district council seats, 452 of which are directly elected  Rural committee chairmen, representing outlying villages and towns, fill the 27 non-elected seats 

Political reforms and sociopolitical issues
Hong Kong is governed by a hybrid regime that is not fully representative of the population  Legislative Council members elected by functional constituencies composed of professional and special interest groups are accountable to these narrow corporate electorates and not the general public  This electoral arrangement has guaranteed a pro-establishment majority in the legislature since the transfer of sovereignty  Similarly, the chief executive is selected by establishment politicians and corporate members of the Election Committee rather than directly elected  Although universal suffrage for the chief executive and all Legislative Council elections are defined goals of Basic Law Articles 45 and 68, the legislature is only partially directly elected, and the executive continues to be nominated by an unrepresentative body  The government has been repeatedly petitioned to introduce direct elections for these positions Ethnic minorities (except those of European ancestry) have marginal representation in government and often experience discrimination in housing, education, and employment  Employment vacancies and public service appointments frequently have language requirements which minority job seekers do not meet, and language education resources remain inadequate for Chinese learners  Foreign domestic helpers, predominantly women from the Philippines and Indonesia, have little protection under regional law  Although they live and work in Hong Kong, these workers are not treated as ordinary residents and do not have the right of abode in the territory  Sex trafficking in Hong Kong is an issue  Local and foreign women and girls are often forced into prostitution in brothels, homes, and businesses in the city The Joint Declaration guarantees the Basic Law of Hong Kong for 50 years after the transfer of sovereignty  It does not specify how Hong Kong will be governed after 2047, and the central government's role in determining the territory's future system of government is the subject of political debate and speculation  Hong Kong's political and judicial systems may be integrated with China's at that time, or the territory may continue to be administered separately  However, in response to large-scale protests in 2019 and 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the controversial Hong Kong national security law  The law criminalises secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign elements and establishes the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the CPG in the HKSAR, an investigative office under Central People's Government authority immune from HKSAR jurisdiction  Some of the aforementioned acts were previously considered protected speech under Hong Kong law  The United Kingdom considers the law to be a serious violation of the Joint Declaration  In October 2020, Hong Kong police arrested seven pro-democracy politicians over tussles with pro-Beijing politicians in the Legislative Council in May  They were charged with contempt and interfering with members of the council, while none of the pro-Beijing lawmakers were detained  Annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre were also cancelled amidst fears of violating the national security law  In March 2021, the Chinese central government unilaterally changed Hong Kong's electoral system and established the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, which would be tasked with screening and evaluating political candidates for their "patriotism" 

Geography
Hong Kong is on China's southern coast, 60 km (37 mi) east of Macau, on the east side of the mouth of the Pearl River estuary  It is surrounded by the South China Sea on all sides except the north, which neighbours the Guangdong city of Shenzhen along the Sham Chun River  The territory's 1,110 18 km2 (428 64 sq mi) area (2754 97 km2 if the maritime area is included) consists of Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories, Lantau Island, and over 200 other islands  Of the total area, 1,073 km2 (414 sq mi) is land and 35 km2 (14 sq mi) is water  The territory's highest point is Tai Mo Shan, 957 metres (3,140 ft) above sea level  Urban development is concentrated on the Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong Island, and in new towns throughout the New Territories  Much of this is built on reclaimed land; 70 km2 (27 sq mi) (6% of the total land or about 25% of developed space in the territory) is reclaimed from the sea Undeveloped terrain is hilly to mountainous, with very little flat land, and consists mostly of grassland, woodland, shrubland, or farmland  About 40% of the remaining land area is country parks and nature reserves  The territory has a diverse ecosystem; over 3,000 species of vascular plants occur in the region (300 of which are native to Hong Kong), and thousands of insect, avian, and marine species 

Climate
Hong Kong has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), characteristic of southern China, despite being located south of the Tropic of Cancer  Summers are long, hot and humid, with occasional showers and thunderstorms and warm air from the southwest  The humid nature of Hong Kong exacerbates the warmth of summer  Typhoons occur most often then, sometimes resulting in floods or landslides  Winters are short, mild and usually sunny at the beginning, becoming cloudy towards February  Frequent cold fronts bring strong, cooling winds from the north and occasionally result in chilly weather  Autumn is the sunniest season, whilst spring is generally cloudy  When there is snowfall, which is extremely rare, it is usually at high elevations  Hong Kong averages 1,709 hours of sunshine per year  Historic temperature extremes at the Hong Kong Observatory are 36 6 °C (97 9 °F) on 22 August 2017 and 0 0 °C (32 0 °F) on 18 January 1893  The highest and lowest recorded temperatures in all of Hong Kong are 39 0 °C (102 °F) at Wetland Park on 22 August 2017, and −6 0 °C (21 2 °F) at Tai Mo Shan on 24 January 2016 

Architecture
Hong Kong has the world's largest number of skyscrapers, with 482 towers taller than 150 metres (490 ft), and the third-largest number of high-rise buildings in the world  The lack of available space restricted development to high-density residential tenements and commercial complexes packed closely together on buildable land  Single-family detached homes are uncommon and generally only found in outlying areas  The International Commerce Centre and Two International Finance Centre are the tallest buildings in Hong Kong and are among the tallest in the Asia-Pacific region  Other distinctive buildings lining the Hong Kong Island skyline include the HSBC Main Building, the anemometer-topped triangular Central Plaza, the circular Hopewell Centre, and the sharp-edged Bank of China Tower Demand for new construction has contributed to frequent demolition of older buildings, freeing space for modern high-rises  However, many examples of European and Lingnan architecture are still found throughout the territory  Older government buildings are examples of colonial architecture  The 1846 Flagstaff House, the former residence of the commanding British military officer, is the oldest Western-style building in Hong Kong  Some (including the Court of Final Appeal Building and the Hong Kong Observatory) retain their original function, and others have been adapted and reused; the Former Marine Police Headquarters was redeveloped into a commercial and retail complex, and Béthanie (built in 1875 as a sanatorium) houses the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts  The Tin Hau Temple, dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu (originally built in 1012 and rebuilt in 1266), is the territory's oldest existing structure  The Ping Shan Heritage Trail has architectural examples of several imperial Chinese dynasties, including the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda (Hong Kong's only remaining pagoda) Tong lau, mixed-use tenement buildings constructed during the colonial era, blended southern Chinese architectural styles with European influences  These were especially prolific during the immediate post-war period, when many were rapidly built to house large numbers of Chinese migrants  Examples include Lui Seng Chun, the Blue House in Wan Chai, and the Shanghai Street shophouses in Mong Kok  Mass-produced public-housing estates, built since the 1960s, are mainly constructed in modernist style 

Demographics
The Census and Statistics Department estimated Hong Kong's population at 7,413,070 in 2021  The overwhelming majority (91 6%) is Han Chinese, most of whom are Taishanese, Teochew, Hakka, and other Cantonese peoples  The remaining 8 4% are non-ethnic Chinese minorities, primarily Filipinos, Indonesians, and South Asians  However, most Filipinos and Indonesians in Hong Kong are short-term workers  According to a 2021 thematic report by the Hong Kong government, after excluding foreign domestic helpers, the real number of non-Chinese ethnic minorities in the city was 301,344, or 4% of Hong Kong's population  About half the population have some form of British nationality, a legacy of colonial rule; 3 4 million residents have British National (Overseas) status, and 260,000 British citizens live in the territory  The vast majority also hold Chinese nationality, automatically granted to all ethnic Chinese residents at the transfer of sovereignty  Headline population density exceeds 7,060 people/km2, and is the fourth-highest in the world The predominant language is Cantonese, a variety of Chinese originating in Guangdong  It is spoken by 93 7% of the population, 88 2% as a first language and 5 5% as a second language  Slightly over half the population (58 7%) speaks English, the other official language; 4 6% are native speakers, and 54 1% speak English as a second language  Code-switching, mixing English and Cantonese in informal conversation, is common among the bilingual population  Post-handover governments have promoted Mandarin, which is currently about as prevalent as English; 54 2% of the population speak Mandarin, with 2 3% native speakers and 51 9% as a second language  Traditional Chinese characters are used in writing, rather than the simplified characters used in the mainland 

Among the religious population, the traditional "three teachings" of China, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, have the most adherents (20%), followed by Christianity (12%) and Islam (4%)  Followers of other religions, including Sikhism, Hinduism, and Judaism, generally originate from regions where their religion predominates Life expectancy in Hong Kong was 82 38 years for males and 88 17 years for females in 2022, the highest in the world  Cancer, pneumonia, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and accidents are the territory's five leading causes of death  The universal public healthcare system is funded by general-tax revenue, and treatment is highly subsidised; on average, 95% of healthcare costs are covered by the government The city has a severe amount of income inequality, which has risen since the transfer of sovereignty, as the region's ageing population has gradually added to the number of nonworking people  Although median household income steadily increased during the decade to 2016, the wage gap remained high; the 90th percentile of earners receive 41% of all income  The city has the most billionaires per capita, with one billionaire per 109,657 people, as well as the third-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world, the second-highest number of billionaires of any city in Asia, and the largest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals of any city in the world  Despite government efforts to reduce the growing disparity, median income for the top 10% of earners is 44 times that of the bottom 10% 

Economy
One of the world's most significant financial centres and commercial ports, Hong Kong has a market economy focused on services, characterised by low taxation, minimal government market intervention, and an established international financial market  It is the world's 35th-largest economy, with a nominal GDP of approximately US$373 billion  Hong Kong's economy ranked at the top of the Heritage Foundation's economic freedom index between 1995 and 2021  However, Hong Kong was removed from the index by the Heritage Foundation in 2021, with the Foundation citing a "loss of political freedom and autonomy     [making Hong Kong] almost indistinguishable in many respects from other major Chinese commercial centers like Shanghai and Beijing"  Hong Kong is highly developed, and ranks fourth on the UN Human Development Index  The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is the seventh-largest in the world, with a market capitalisation of HK$30 4 trillion (US$3 87 trillion) as of December 2018  Hong Kong is ranked as the 14th most innovative territory in the Global Innovation Index in 2022, and 3rd in the Global Financial Centres Index  The city is sometimes referred to as "Silicon Harbor", a nickname derived from Silicon Valley in California  Hong Kong hosts several high tech and innovation companies, including several multinational companies Hong Kong is the ninth- and eight-largest trading entity in exports and imports respectively (2021),  trading more goods in value than its gross domestic product  Over half of its cargo throughput consists of transshipments (goods travelling through Hong Kong)  Products from mainland China account for about 40% of that traffic  The city's location allowed it to establish a transportation and logistics infrastructure which includes the world's seventh-busiest container port and the busiest airport for international cargo  The territory's largest export markets are mainland China and the United States  Hong Kong is a key part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road  It has little arable land and few natural resources, importing most of its food and raw materials  More than 90% of Hong Kong's food is imported, including nearly all of its meat and rice  Agricultural activity is 0 1% of GDP and consists of growing premium food and flower varieties Although the territory had one of Asia's largest manufacturing economies during the latter half of the colonial era, Hong Kong's economy is now dominated by the service sector  The sector generates 92 7% of economic output, with the public sector accounting for about 10%  Between 1961 and 1997 Hong Kong's gross domestic product increased by a factor of 180, and per capita GDP increased by a factor of 87  The territory's GDP relative to mainland China's peaked at 27% in 1993; it fell to less than 3% in 2017, as the mainland developed and liberalised its economy  Economic and infrastructure integration with China has increased significantly since the 1978 start of market liberalisation on the mainland  Since resumption of cross-boundary train service in 1979, many rail and road links have been improved and constructed, facilitating trade between regions  The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement formalised a policy of free trade between the two areas, with each jurisdiction pledging to remove remaining obstacles to trade and cross-boundary investment  A similar economic partnership with Macau details the liberalisation of trade between the special administrative regions  Chinese companies have expanded their economic presence in the territory since the transfer of sovereignty  Mainland firms represent over half of the Hang Seng Index value, up from 5% in 1997 

As the mainland liberalised its economy, Hong Kong's shipping industry faced intense competition from other Chinese ports  Half of China's trade goods were routed through Hong Kong in 1997, dropping to about 13% by 2015  The territory's minimal taxation, common law system, and civil service attract overseas corporations wishing to establish a presence in Asia  The city has the second-highest number of corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region  Hong Kong is a gateway for foreign direct investment in China, giving investors open access to mainland Chinese markets through direct links with the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges  The territory was the first market outside mainland China for renminbi-denominated bonds, and is one of the largest hubs for offshore renminbi trading  In November 2020, Hong Kong's Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau proposed a new law that will restrict cryptocurrency trading to professional investors only, leaving amateur traders (93% of Hong Kong's trading population) out of the market  The Hong Kong dollar, the local currency, is the eighth most traded currency in the world  Due to extremely compact house sizes and the extremely high housing density, the city has the most expensive housing market in the world The government has had a passive role in the economy  Colonial governments had little industrial policy and implemented almost no trade controls  Under the doctrine of "positive non-interventionism", post-war administrations deliberately avoided the direct allocation of resources; active intervention was considered detrimental to economic growth  While the economy transitioned to a service basis during the 1980s, late colonial governments introduced interventionist policies  Post-handover administrations continued and expanded these programmes, including export-credit guarantees, a compulsory pension scheme, a minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws, and a state mortgage backer Tourism is a major part of the economy, accounting for 5% of GDP  In 2016, 26 6 million visitors contributed HK$258 billion (US$32 9 billion) to the territory, making Hong Kong the 14th most popular destination for international tourists  It is the most popular Chinese city for tourists, receiving over 70% more visitors than its closest competitor (Macau)  The city is ranked as one of the most expensive cities for expatriates  However, since 2020, there has been a sharp decline in incoming visitors due to tight COVID-19 travel restrictions  Additionally, due to the closure of Russian airspace in 2022, multiple airlines decided to cease their operations in Hong Kong  In an attempt to attract tourists back to Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government announced plans to give away 500,000 free airline tickets in 2023 Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world, with a very low homicide rate at 0 29 per 100,000 population  Compared with other Nylonkong cities, London is 1 38 and New York is 5 80 

Infrastructure
Transport
Hong Kong has a highly developed, sophisticated transport network  Over 90% of daily trips are made on public transport, the highest percentage in the world  The Octopus card, a contactless smart payment card, is widely accepted on railways, trams, buses and ferries, and can be used for payment in most retail stores The Peak Tram, Hong Kong's first public transport system, has provided funicular rail transport between Central and Victoria Peak since 1888  The Central and Western District has an extensive system of escalators and moving pavements, including the Mid-Levels escalator (the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system)  Hong Kong Tramways covers a portion of Hong Kong Island  The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is an extensive passenger rail network, connecting 93 metro stations throughout the territory  With a daily ridership of almost five million, the system serves 41% of all public transit passengers in the city and has an on-time rate of 99 9%  Cross-boundary train service to Shenzhen is offered by the East Rail line, and longer-distance inter-city trains to Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing are operated from Hung Hom station  Connecting service to the national high-speed rail system is provided at West Kowloon railway station Although public transport systems handle most passenger traffic, there are over 500,000 private vehicles registered in Hong Kong  Automobiles drive on the left (unlike in mainland China), because of historical influence of the British Empire  Vehicle traffic is extremely congested in urban areas, exacerbated by limited space to expand roads and an increasing number of vehicles  More than 18,000 taxicabs, easily identifiable by their bright colour, are licensed to carry riders in the territory  Bus services operate more than 700 routes across the territory, with smaller public light buses (also known as minibuses) serving areas standard buses do not reach as frequently or directly  Highways, organised with the Hong Kong Strategic Route and Exit Number System, connect all major areas of the territory  The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge provides a direct route to the western side of the Pearl River estuary 

Hong Kong International Airport is the territory's primary airport  Over 100 airlines operate flights from the airport, including locally based Cathay Pacific (flag carrier), Hong Kong Airlines, low-cost airline HK Express and cargo airline Air Hong Kong  It is the eighth-busiest airport by passenger traffic pre-COVID and handles the most air-cargo traffic in the world  Most private recreational aviation traffic flies through Shek Kong Airfield, under the supervision of the Hong Kong Aviation Club The Star Ferry operates two lines across Victoria Harbour for its 53,000 daily passengers  Ferries also serve outlying islands inaccessible by other means  Smaller kai-to boats serve the most remote coastal settlements  Ferry travel to Macau and mainland China is also available  Junks, once common in Hong Kong waters, are no longer widely available and are used privately and for tourism 
The large size of the port gives Hong Kong the classification of Large-Port Metropolis 

Utilities
Hong Kong generates most of its electricity locally  The vast majority of this energy comes from fossil fuels, with 46% from coal and 47% from petroleum  The rest is from other imports, including nuclear energy generated in mainland China  Renewable sources account for a negligible amount of energy generated for the territory  Small-scale wind-power sources have been developed, and a small number of private homes and public buildings have installed solar panels With few natural lakes and rivers, high population density, inaccessible groundwater sources, and extremely seasonal rainfall, the territory does not have a reliable source of freshwater  The Dongjiang River in Guangdong supplies 70% of the city's water, and the remaining demand is filled by harvesting rainwater  Toilets in most built-up areas of the territory flush with seawater, greatly reducing freshwater use Broadband Internet access is widely available, with 92 6% of households connected  Connections over fibre-optic infrastructure are increasingly prevalent, contributing to the high regional average connection speed of 21 9 Mbit/s (the world's fourth-fastest)  Mobile-phone use is ubiquitous; there are more than 18 million mobile-phone accounts, more than double the territory's population 

Culture
Hong Kong is characterised as a hybrid of East and West  Traditional Chinese values emphasising family and education blend with Western ideals, including economic liberty and the rule of law  Although the vast majority of the population is ethnically Chinese, Hong Kong has developed a distinct identity  The territory diverged from the mainland through its long period of colonial administration and a different pace of economic, social, and cultural development  Mainstream culture is derived from immigrants originating from various parts of China  This was influenced by British-style education, a separate political system, and the territory's rapid development during the late 20th century  Most migrants of that era fled poverty and war, reflected in the prevailing attitude toward wealth; Hongkongers tend to link self-image and decision-making to material benefits  Residents' sense of local identity has markedly increased post-handover: The majority of the population (52%) identifies as "Hongkongers", while 11% describe themselves as "Chinese"  The remaining population purport mixed identities, 23% as "Hongkonger in China" and 12% as "Chinese in Hong Kong" Traditional Chinese family values, including family honour, filial piety, and a preference for sons, are prevalent  Nuclear families are the most common households, although multi-generational and extended families are not unusual  Spiritual concepts such as feng shui are observed; large-scale construction projects often hire consultants to ensure proper building positioning and layout  The degree of its adherence to feng shui is believed to determine the success of a business  Bagua mirrors are regularly used to deflect evil spirits, and buildings often lack floor numbers with a 4; the number has a similar sound to the word for "die" in Cantonese 

Cuisine
Food in Hong Kong is primarily based on Cantonese cuisine, despite the territory's exposure to foreign influences and its residents' varied origins  Rice is the staple food, and is usually served plain with other dishes  Freshness of ingredients is emphasised  Poultry and seafood are commonly sold live at wet markets, and ingredients are used as quickly as possible  There are five daily meals: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, and siu yeh  Dim sum, as part of yum cha (brunch), is a dining-out tradition with family and friends  Dishes include congee, cha siu bao, siu yuk, egg tarts, and mango pudding  Local versions of Western food are served at cha chaan teng (Hong Kong-style cafes)  Common cha chaan teng menu items include macaroni in soup, deep-fried French toast, and Hong Kong-style milk tea 

Cinema
Hong Kong developed into a filmmaking hub during the late 1940s as a wave of Shanghai filmmakers migrated to the territory, and these movie veterans helped build the colony's entertainment industry over the next decade  By the 1960s, the city was well known to overseas audiences through films such as The World of Suzie Wong  When Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon was released in 1972, local productions became popular outside Hong Kong  During the 1980s, films such as A Better Tomorrow, As Tears Go By, and Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain expanded global interest beyond martial arts films; locally made gangster films, romantic dramas, and supernatural fantasies became popular  Hong Kong cinema continued to be internationally successful over the following decade with critically acclaimed dramas such as Farewell My Concubine, To Live, and Chungking Express  The city's martial arts film roots are evident in the roles of the most prolific Hong Kong actors  Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, and Michelle Yeoh frequently play action-oriented roles in foreign films  Hong Kong films have also grown popular in oversea markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, earning the city the moniker "Hollywood of the East"  At the height of the local movie industry in the early 1990s, over 400 films were produced each year; since then, industry momentum shifted to mainland China  The number of films produced annually has declined to about 60 in 2017 

Music
Cantopop is a genre of Cantonese popular music which emerged in Hong Kong during the 1970s  Evolving from Shanghai-style shidaiqu, it is also influenced by Cantonese opera and Western pop  Local media featured songs by artists such as Sam Hui, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, and Alan Tam; during the 1980s, exported films and shows exposed Cantopop to a global audience  The genre's popularity peaked in the 1990s, when the Four Heavenly Kings dominated Asian record charts  Despite a general decline since late in the decade, Cantopop remains dominant in Hong Kong; contemporary artists such as Eason Chan, Joey Yung, and Twins are popular in and beyond the territory Western classical music has historically had a strong presence in Hong Kong and remains a large part of local musical education  The publicly funded Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the territory's oldest professional symphony orchestra, frequently hosts musicians and conductors from overseas  The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, composed of classical Chinese instruments, is the leading Chinese ensemble and plays a significant role in promoting traditional music in the community Hong Kong has never had a separate national anthem to the country that controlled it; its current official national anthem is therefore that of China, March of the Volunteers  The song Glory to Hong Kong has been used by protestors as an unofficial anthem of the city 

Sport and recreation
Despite its small area, the territory is home to a variety of sports and recreational facilities  The city has hosted numerous major sporting events, including the 2009 East Asian Games, the 2008 Summer Olympics equestrian events, and the 2007 Premier League Asia Trophy  The territory regularly hosts the Hong Kong Sevens, Hong Kong Marathon, Hong Kong Tennis Classic and Lunar New Year Cup, and hosted the inaugural AFC Asian Cup and the 1995 Dynasty Cup Hong Kong represents itself separately from mainland China, with its own sports teams in international competitions  The territory has participated in almost every Summer Olympics since 1952 and has earned nine medals  Lee Lai-shan won the territory's first Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and Cheung Ka Long won the second one in Tokyo 2020  Hong Kong athletes have won 126 medals at the Paralympic Games and 17 at the Commonwealth Games  No longer part of the Commonwealth of Nations, the city's last appearance in the latter was in 1994 Dragon boat races originated as a religious ceremony conducted during the annual Tuen Ng Festival  The race was revived as a modern sport as part of the Tourism Board's efforts to promote Hong Kong's image abroad  The first modern competition was organised in 1976, and overseas teams began competing in the first international race in 1993 The Hong Kong Jockey Club, the territory's largest taxpayer, has a monopoly on gambling and provides over 7% of government revenue  Three forms of gambling are legal in Hong Kong: lotteries, horse racing, and football 

Education
Education in Hong Kong is largely modelled after that of the United Kingdom, particularly the English system  Children are required to attend school from age 6 until completion of secondary education, generally at age 18  At the end of secondary schooling, all students take a public examination and awarded the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education on successful completion  Of residents aged 15 and older, 81% completed lower-secondary education, 66% graduated from an upper secondary school, 32% attended a non-degree tertiary program, and 24% earned a bachelor's degree or higher  Mandatory education has contributed to an adult literacy rate of 95 7%  The literacy rate is lower than that of other developed economies because of the influx of refugees from mainland China during the post-war colonial era; much of the elderly population were not formally educated because of war and poverty Comprehensive schools fall under three categories: public schools, which are government-run; subsidised schools, including government aid-and-grant schools; and private schools, often those run by religious organisations and that base admissions on academic merit  These schools are subject to the curriculum guidelines as provided by the Education Bureau  Private schools subsidised under the Direct Subsidy Scheme; international schools fall outside of this system and may elect to use differing curricula and teach using other languages 

Medium of instruction
At primary and secondary school levels, the government maintains a policy of "mother tongue instruction"; most schools use Cantonese as the medium of instruction, with written education in both Chinese and English  Other languages being used as medium of instruction in non-international school education include English and Putonghua (Standard Mandarin Chinese)  Secondary schools emphasise "bi-literacy and tri-lingualism", which has encouraged the proliferation of spoken Mandarin language education English is the official medium of instruction and assessments for most university programmes in Hong Kong, although use of Cantonese is predominant in informal discussions among local students and professors 

Tertiary education
Hong Kong has eleven universities  The University of Hong Kong (HKU) was founded as the city's first institute of higher education during the early colonial period in 1911  The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was established in 1963 to fill the need for a university that taught using Chinese as its primary language of instruction  Along with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) established in 1991, these universities are consistently ranked among the top 50 or top 100 universities worldwide  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and City University of Hong Kong (CityU), both granted university status in 1994, are consistently ranked among the top 100 or top 200 universities worldwide  The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) was granted university status in 1994  and is a liberal arts institution  Lingnan University, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Metropolitan University (formerly Open University of Hong Kong), Hong Kong Shue Yan University and Hang Seng University of Hong Kong all attained full university status in subsequent years 

Media
Most of the newsapapers in Hong Kong are written in Chinese but there are also a few English-language newspapers  The major one is the South China Morning Post, with The Standard serving as a business-oriented alternative  A variety of Chinese-language newspapers are published daily; the most prominent are Ming Pao and Oriental Daily News  Local publications are often politically affiliated, with pro-Beijing or pro-democracy sympathies  The central government has a print-media presence in the territory through the state-owned Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po  Several international publications have regional operations in Hong Kong, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times International Edition, USA Today, Yomiuri Shimbun, and The Nikkei Three free-to-air television broadcasters operate in the territory; TVB, HKTVE, and Hong Kong Open TV air eight digital channels  TVB, Hong Kong's dominant television network, has an 80% viewer share  Pay TV services operated by Cable TV Hong Kong and PCCW offer hundreds of additional channels and cater to a variety of audiences  RTHK is the public broadcaster, providing seven radio channels and three television channels  Ten non-domestic broadcasters air programming for the territory's foreign population  Access to media and information over the Internet is not subject to mainland Chinese regulations, including the Great Firewall, yet local control applies 

See also
Index of articles related to Hong Kong
Outline of Hong Kong

Notes
Passage 7:
Billings Metropolitan Transit
Billings Metropolitan Transit (MET) is the public transit system in Billings, Montana  MET Transit provides fixed-route and paratransit bus service to the City of Billings Monday-Saturday  The MET is the primary mode of transportation for many citizens of the city  Met serves about 3,000 passengers a day  It currently employs around 200 people  All of MET's buses are accessible by citizens who use wheelchairs and other mobility devices; the buses are wheelchair lift-equipped and accessible to all citizens that are unable to use the stairs  All MET buses are equipped with bike racks for its bike riding passengers 

History
The MET began operation in 1973 with only five fixed routes; these included Crosstown, Grand, Broadwater, Central, and Southside 
In 1993 the MET opened up its first transfer center at Stewart Park for passengers to utilize in transferring to connection buses  In July 1996 the MET started the "Bike and Ride" program in an attempt to attract new riders; by 2004, the program had 1,411 bike-and-ride users 
In 2002 the MET added its S S  Loop to the fleet list adding extra service to the Billings south side and Route 11M Northwest was dropped off the MET route fleet 
In 2003 the MET remodeled its Stewart Park transfer center 
In the summer of 2008, construction began on the new Downtown transfer center at 220 N  25th Street; this was completed in early 2009 and it was open for business  This resulted in various changes to the routes and schedules for the buses that transfer in Downtown  Further, the MET raised its fare prices from $0 75 to $1 25 and from $0 25 to $0 50  In 2011 the MET once again faced a schedule change; Route 12P Overland Avenue was taken off the fleet 
In 2013 the MET faced another schedule change, but added more service to the West-End and the South Side  The new "West-End" bus (originally called "Southwest" and running every half-hour) was changed into a one-hour route that extended to cover the V A  Clinic on Spring Creek Drive and Zoo Montana on Shiloh Road and Pierce Parkway  The route was directed down Shiloh to Shiloh Crossing, a shopping center on Shiloh Road and King Avenue West  Routes 1M, 5D, 9D, 10D, S5, and S9 also faced changes  Route 1M changed by adding an hour and a half of service each weekday and further service down 6th Ave N  Route 5D is now known as Route 5D1 Grand 1 and Route 5D2 Grand 2  The new Grand routes run to 32nd St W off of Grand Ave instead of to 28th St W  Route 9D Central has been changed to travel down 1st Ave S during its Outbound times  Route 10D Southside serves 4th Ave S on its outbound times 
In 2014, the MET began a new program for disabled veterans  Disabled veterans can ride free on all the MET bus routes as long as the individuals show the MET driver their Department of Veterans Affairs identification card indicating "Service Connected"; the vet is not required to have a bus pass 
Also in 2014, the MET will provide its first shuttle service to the Magic Blues Fest at south park  Service will run from 14:00-23:00 and the bus will run 4 times an hour 
In May 2016, the City Council approved a four-year phased-in approach to increase bus fares  The monthly bus passes will increase by $4 beginning July 1, 2016 for the first year  Each year thereafter on July 1; the monthly passes will increase by $2 until July 1, 2019  The overall increase for adult, youth, senior and disabled monthly passes will have an accumulative increase of $10 by fiscal year 2020 
Cash fares also increased on July 1, 2016  Adult cash fares went up from $1 25 to $1 75, Youth from $1 25 to $1 50, and the Senior/Disabled cash fare from $0 50 to $0 85  Day Passes are $4  Under 6 ride for free with fare-paying rider, limit 3  And, transfers are free per use upon paying a cash fare; good for 90 minutes of being issued 
Additionally at the May 23, 2016 City Council meeting, the Council approved the elimination of four unproductive routes  The eliminated routes are the 2 Rimrock, 4 Parkhill, 6 Lewis, and 8 Miles and will end service on July 30 
In July, 2018 the MET made changes to Route 1-MET Link having it travel to Billings Logan International Airport for the first time and Route 13-Westend travel to St  Josephine Crossing allowing transfers between routes 13-Westend and 19-The Loop at Midland and Mullowney  In October, 2018 bus tracking technology was made available to the public through the Double Map bus tracking app 
In February, 2020 MET added free public WiFi to all its buses 

Services
The MET serves all five wards in the city of Billings with easily identifiable buses; they have green and blue diagonal bands  The route name is displayed over the windshield and side window while the route number is also displayed in the windshield's lower left corner  The MET stops at most corners or at blue and green MET bus signs  However, over the next 12-18 months, MET Transit will only stop at designated bus stops 

Weekday routes
1 - MET Link
3 - Crosstown
5A - Grand
5B - Grand
7 - Broadwater
9 - Central
10 - Southside
13 - Westend
14 - Alkali
15 - Hilltop
16 - Main
17 - Bench
18 - Heights
19 - The Loop
24 - Poly

School Runs
(these routes are open to the public and operate during public middle school days )

T1 Castlerock
T2 Riverside
T3 Will James
T4 Lewis & Clark

Saturday Routes
S3 - Crosstown
S5 - Grand
S7 - Broadwater
S9 - Central
S13 - Westend
S18 - Heights
S19 - The Loop

Former Routes
2 - Rimrock
4 - Parkhill
6 - Lewis
8 - Miles
11 - Northwest
12 - Overland Ave 

Special Services
Park-n-Ride
Bike & Ride
Service Connected - Free transit service for disabled veterans

Met Plus
MET Plus provides paratransit service to citizens who are unable to use MET Transit's fixed route bus service due to a disability  Paratransit is an Origin to Destination service for persons certified as eligible  All MET Transit vehicles are lift equipped 

Facilities & Vehicles
Head Office
The head office known as The Metroplex houses the administration offices, maintenance, buses, and bus wash 

Address: 1705 Monad Road
Coordinates: 45°45′47″N 108°33′31″W

Downtown Transfer Center
Most MET routes, except Route 13, come together in downtown Billings at the transfer center at 220 N  25th Street 

Address: 220 North 25th Street
Coordinates: 45°47′06″N 108°30′12 8″W

Stewart Park Transfer Center
Many routes come together at the Stewart Park Transfer Center just west of Rimrock Mall  The routes that do not use Stewart Park include 1, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 

Address: Stewart Park Road at Rimrock Mall
Coordinates: 45°46′04 4″N 108°34′55 8″W

Transit Fleet
MET Transit has a fleet of 40 vehicles - 25 for fixed-route and 15 used for Paratransit  

17 Gillig 35 ft (11 m) Standard Diesel High-FloorBuses 1801-1817
2 Gillig 35 ft (11 m) Standard Diesel Low-Floor Buses 1818 and 1819
6 Ford-LFTrans Heavy Duty buses 1820-1825In August 2022, Billings MET Transit announced plans to buy four electric buses with funds awarded by a grant program, which totaled $3,880,316 

See also
Transportation in Montana



ground_truth: 2000 Summer Olympic Games

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: The 53rd National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at the indoor arena that was completed in what year?

The following are given passages.
Context 2: 
Mini Nets: each player must complete a pass into each of the four mini nets and the game net 

Winners
Puck Control Relay
The Puck Control Relay was held from 1990 to 2019  The purpose of the event is to be fastest skater over the course while also maintaining control of the puck through a series of pylons  There are two races; the first where each team has three skaters in a race against each other and the second for the best individuals of each conference  One goal awarded to the winning team of each competition 
This event returned in 2018  Skaters from each division earn points on their skills with puck handling in the fastest time possible  Note: each skill must be completed before moving on to the next station 

Stick-handling: each skater must control the puck through a series of eight pucks 
Cone Control: each skater with a puck must skate through a series of eight cones 
Gates: as a skater approaches each gate, he must shoot the puck through the lit rung 

Winners
Save Streak
The Save Streak was held from 2018 to 2022  The purpose of this event is for goaltenders to earn points for their division by saving as many pucks as possible against an opposing division's shooter in NHL shootout fashion  The goaltender with the longest "save streak" and most saves wins the competition  Note: the winning goaltender receives $25,000 

Each scoring attempt is officiated in accordance with NHL shootout rules and begins on the referee's whistle 
Each goalie will face all players from an opposing division 
Players from each division will shoot numerically with the division captain shooting last 
If a goalie saves the divisional captain's shot, he will continue to face shooters until a goal is scored 
If there is a tie for the longest "save streak", the winner will be determined by the total number of saves made in their round 

Winners
Skills Challenge Relay
The Skills Challenge Relay was held from 2011 to 2017  This event had the following relays:

One timers – three shooters must each score 2 goals from various locations in the offensive zone
Passing – one passer must complete a pass into six small nets
Puck Control Relay – one skater with the puck skates through a series of cones
Stick Handling – one skater controls the puck through a series of pucks
Accuracy Shooting – one shooter must hit four targets
Goalie Goals - one goalie must score 2 goalsTwo groups of each team participate: one-timers having left-hand shooters in one group and right-hand shooters in another 

Winners
Skills Conference winner
In 2009, there was no score kept 
In 2016, the winning conference was given the choice of whether to play the first or second mini-game in the All-Star Game the next day  In 2017, the winning division was given the choice of which opponent to play first in the All-Star Game In 2018, even though there were four divisions, the competition focused on individual player and no score was kept 
Passage 8:
BB&amp;T Center (Sunrise, Florida)
FLA Live Arena (previously known as the National Car Rental Center, Office Depot Center, BankAtlantic Center, and BB&T Center) is an indoor arena located next to Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida  It is the home venue for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League  It was completed in 1998, at a cost of US$185 million, almost entirely publicly financed, and features 70 suites and 2,623 club seats 

History
In 1992, Wayne Huizenga obtained a new NHL franchise that would eventually become the Florida Panthers  Until the team had an arena of their own, they initially played at the now-demolished Miami Arena, sharing the venue with the NBA's Miami Heat  Sunrise City Manager Pat Salerno made public a $167-million financing and construction plan for a civic center near the Sawgrass Expressway in December 1995, and Broward County approved construction in February 1996  In June 1996, the site was chosen by the Panthers, and in July, Alex Muxo gathered more than a dozen architects, engineers and contractors for the first major design brainstorming session  Architects Ellerbe Becket were given 26 months to build the arena, which had to be ready by August 30, 1998, to accommodate the 1998–99 NHL season  Despite never having designed a facility that had taken less than 31 months from start to finish, they accepted the job 
Seventy suites were completed with wet bars, closed circuit monitors and leather upholstery  Averaging over 650 square feet (60 m2), the suites are the largest in the country for this type of facility  Also home to private lounge box seating, all construction activity was generated by over fifty subcontractors and 2 3 million man hours without a single injury  Known as the Broward County Civic Center during construction, the naming rights were won in July 1998 by National Car Rental — a company purchased by Huizenga in January 1997 — leading to the venue being named the National Car Rental Center  A certificate of occupancy was given on September 12, 1998, and the arena opened on October 3, 1998, with a Celine Dion concert  The next day, Elton John performed, and on October 9, 1998, the Florida Panthers had their first home game at their new arena As NRC's new parent company, ANC Rental, went bankrupt in 2002, the Panthers sought a new sponsor for the arena  It became the Office Depot Center in the summer of 2002  (Office Depot is an office supply retailing company, which is headquartered in nearby Boca Raton ) Just over three years later, the arena's name changed again; it became the BankAtlantic Center on September 6, 2005  (BankAtlantic was headquartered in nearby Fort Lauderdale )
Because BB&T purchased BankAtlantic in July 2012, the arena was rebranded as the BB&T Center The arena is currently the largest in Florida and second-largest in the Southeastern United States, behind Greensboro Coliseum  During the 2011 offseason, the BB&T Center replaced the original green seats in the lower bowl with new red seats, as a part of the Panthers' "We See Red" campaign In October 2012, Sunrise Sports and Entertainment completed installation of the Club Red seating sections encompassing the center ice seats during hockey games  It is an all-inclusive nightclub experience following the trend of other sports and entertainment venues in incorporating high-end seating sections and clubs The ADT Club, located on the club level, offers food and beverage  The Duffy's Sky Club at the BB&T Center encompasses approximately 8,000 square feet (740 m2) and can cater to a maximum of about 500 guests  The Penalty Box offers fans another seating and dining option inside the BB&T Center  The Legends Lounge is a restaurant located on the Lexus Suite Level, and offers sit down service On May 14, 2013, Broward County voted to fund a new scoreboard for the county-owned arena  On October 11, 2013, the scoreboard made its debut for the Panthers' 2013–14 home opener In February 2019, it was announced that BB&T would be merging with SunTrust Banks to form Truist Financial Corporation  The merged company decided to not renew the naming rights agreement after it expired in 2021; the arena will thus have the temporary name of FLA Live Arena until a new rights partner is found 

Concerts
Notable events
NHL
The Florida Panthers hosted the 2001 NHL Entry Draft & 2015 NHL Entry Draft at the arena 
The arena served as the site for the 2003 NHL All-Star Game on February 2, 2003  The Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference 6–5 in a shootout victory  It marked the first "official" shootout in the NHL 
The arena was due to host the 2021 NHL All-Star game, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 
The arena hosted the 2023 NHL All-Star Game on February 4, 2023 
The arena hosted the third and fourth games of the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals 

Boxing, mixed martial arts
The arena has held boxing and mixed martial arts events such as EliteXC: Heat featuring the main event of Seth Petruzelli and Kimbo Slice took place on October 4, 2008  On February 15, 2009, a lightweight bout between Nate Campbell and Ali Funeka took place in the arena 
Strikeforce MMA made their debut at the arena on January 30, 2010, with the Strikeforce: Miami event on Showtime UFC on FX 3 took place at the arena on June 8, 2012  It was the first UFC event ever held at the arena UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs  Hermansson (also known as UFC Fight Night 150 or UFC on ESPN+ 8) took place at the arena on April 27, 2019  It was the first time UFC returned to the arena since 2012 
The arena hosted an exhibition boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr  and John Gotti III, on June 11, 2023 

Professional wrestling
WCW Bash At The Beach - July 11, 1999
WWF Armageddon – December 12, 1999
WWE Armageddon – December 15, 2002

Rodeo
The Professional Bull Riders brought their Built Ford Tough Series tour to the BB&T Center in September 2005 for a bull riding event, which was won by Kody Lostroh (who ultimately became the Rookie of the Year that same year) 

Other events
On May 23, 2008, Senator Barack Obama held a rally as part of his presidential primary campaign 
Several months later on October 29, Obama returned to the arena to hold a rally as part of his presidential campaign  The rally was presented as a paid programm airing on several major broadcast and cable networks live 
On August 10, 2016, Candidate Donald Trump held a rally as part of his presidential campaign 
On February 21, 2018, the venue hosted a CNN town hall meeting on gun control in response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that occurred a week earlier; it was attended by 7,000 people, including survivors of the shooting and relatives of the victims 
On June 27, 2018, rapper XXXTentacion's fan memorial and public funeral was held at the arena 
On November 26, 2019, President Donald Trump held a campaign rally 

Regular events
In addition to the Panthers, the arena was formerly home to the Florida Pit Bulls of the American Basketball Association, the Miami Caliente of the Lingerie Football League, and the Florida Bobcats of the AFL, along with the only season of the Florida ThunderCats  This arena also serves as the host for the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic held every December in conjunction with the namesake college football game 

Arena information
Seating
Basketball: 20,737
Hockey: 19,250
End-Stage Concerts: 15,207 – 23,000
Center-Stage Concerts: 25,000
17,000 square feet (1,600 m2) of arena floor space for trade shows and other events such as circuses and ice shows 

Parking and loading docks
Total: 7,045 spaces (Does not include production or bus/oversized vehicle parking)
General parking: 4,787 Spaces
Suite/club seat parking: 1,430 spaces
Garage: 226 spaces
Disabled parking: 90 spaces
Event staff: 512 spaces
Truck doors: 5
Waste removal docks: 2

Food and novelty concessions
Plaza Level: 3 food courts and Pantherland Retail
Mezzanine Level: 3 food courts and two points of purchase kiosks
Passage 9:
58th National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game (also known as the 2011 National Hockey League All-Star Game presented by Discover) was played on January 30, 2011  The game took place at the RBC Center in Raleigh, home of the Carolina Hurricanes  Originally, the Game was supposed to be hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes, but due to ownership issues, the NHL decided to move the game  After bidding for the game reopened, it was awarded to Carolina and fulfilled a nine-year-old promise made to the franchise by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman 
The 2011 version of the All-Star Game featured a break from the traditional way in which teams were organized  Instead of using conferences or player nationalities as in the past, teams were selected by captains in a fantasy draft days prior to the game  Fans still elected players to the All-Star Game, but instead of the traditional 12 starters (six for each team), they elected only six players, with the remaining 36 players involved in the game selected by the NHL  Sidney Crosby received the most votes of any player, but due to a concussion he was unable to participate in the game  The participating players voted for team captains, selecting Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings and Eric Staal of the Hurricanes 
Staal won the first pick in the draft and selected longtime teammate Cam Ward, while the Toronto Maple Leafs' Phil Kessel was the last player chosen  The annual SuperSkills Competition was held the night before the Game and featured Alexander Ovechkin winning his third consecutive Breakaway Challenge  In addition, Zdeno Chara broke his own SuperSkills Competition record for hardest shot at 105 9 mph (170 4 km/hr)  Team Staal won the contest 33–22 
Team Lidstrom won the game 11–10, the 21 combined goals was the fourth highest total scored in an NHL All-Star Game  The first Penalty shot in All-Star Game history was called after Ovechkin threw his stick to break-up a Matt Duchene breakaway  Registering one goal and two assists, Patrick Sharp of the losing Team Staal won the Most Valuable Player Award  Jeff Skinner was the youngest player to ever play in an NHL All-Star Game  Shea Weber recorded four assists, making him only the second defenceman to accomplish the feat in one All-Star Game  Fellow defenceman Lidstrom registered a +7 rating, the highest in an All-Star Game since 1991  Winning goaltender Tim Thomas became the first goaltender in NHL history to win three consecutive All-Star Games  This had been the first NHL All-Star Game since the 2009 season, since there wasn't one in 2010 due to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada the first time in an NHL Market 

Background
The 58th National Hockey League All-Star Game was originally scheduled to be hosted by the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing com Arena in Glendale, Arizona  However, due to the ongoing bankruptcy case, potential ownership changes in the Coyotes organization, and the possibility of relocation, the NHL decided to reopen bidding to host the game  In the bidding process, 14 teams made bids for All-Star Games or NHL Drafts for the next three years  Out of all the bids, the NHL chose the Carolina Hurricanes to be the new host team and on April 7, 2010, the announcement was made by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Hurricanes President and General Manager Jim Rutherford The awarding of the All-Star Game fulfilled a nine-year-old promise Bettman made to the city of Raleigh  In 2001, he promised the organization that they would host an All-Star Game if the season ticket base reached 12,000  After reaching that plateau, Bettman indicated that other community assets were still required to secure a bid  Most notably, a proper convention center for ancillary events was needed, along with a four-star hotel, which was completed in 2009 with the new Raleigh Convention Center and adjoining Raleigh Marriott City Center in downtown Raleigh Three months after receiving the All-Star Game, the Hurricanes unveiled the logo for the 2011 game  The logo was designed with some homage to the host team and city hidden within it  The shape of the logo is similar to the Hurricanes primary logo, along with the team colors of red, black and silver  The banners at the top and bottom of the logo are inspired by the state flag of North Carolina The NHL and the city of Raleigh also presented a three-day festival to coincide with All-Star weekend called NHL All-Star Wide Open  The festivities include a series of free concerts, headlined by the band 3 Doors Down, interactive games and attractions, special appearances, Hockey Hall of Fame trophy and memorabilia displays, pin trading and trading card zones and a street party similar to the city's own annual festival, Raleigh Wide Open  There was also a charity 5K fun run, starting and ending at RBC Center with the Carolina Hurricanes "Kids 'N Community Foundation" being the beneficiary of the raised funds 

New format
On November 10, 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) unveiled a new format for selecting the NHL All-Star teams: the traditional conference format was replaced by a "fantasy draft " Fans voted for six players, from either conference (three forwards, two defencemen and one goaltender), and the NHL selected another 36 players, for a total of 42 players  The chosen players then appointed two captains; the NHL and NHLPA, with input from the players, named two alternate captains for each team  Each team had two forwards and one defenceman as its captain and alternates  The captains and alternates selected their team members in a fantasy-style draft held on January 28, 2011  The first pick was determined by a coin toss, with alternating picks after the first  Teams consisted of three goaltenders, six defencemen and 12 forwards  Although the draft rules did not dictate a strict order in which positions had to be filled, to guarantee the final picks were not constrained by having to satisfy roster composition rules, the teams' three goaltenders had to be chosen by the end of round ten, and all defencemen had to be chosen by the end of round 15  According to NHL Vice President of Hockey and Business Development Brendan Shanahan, the new format was introduced to add excitement and intrigue into all the events, while make it more fun for everyone involved For 2011, the NHL eliminated the YoungStars Game which had been played in the previous five All-Star weekends  However, rookies were still featured at the Super Skills Competition  A group of 12 Calder Trophy-eligible players were split into two groups of six  At the conclusion of the fantasy draft's 15th round, one rookie was selected from the 12 to choose which team his group would join for the competition This was the first time the traditional "East vs  West" format was not used since 2002, when the World All-Star Team defeated North America 8–5 in Los Angeles 

Uniforms
The All-Star uniforms that debuted in this game featured a unique striping pattern coming from the back of the shoulders going down the arms  As the main stripe crossed below the elbow, it, and the radiating stripes coming from it, switched from the back of the sleeves to the front  The front of the jersey also featured the player's number between the collar and the large NHL crest, an unusual placement for a uniform number  Team Staal wore white uniforms with red trim, while Team Lidstrom wore navy blue uniforms with lighter blue trim  These uniforms would return for the next All-Star Game 

The Guardian Project
During the All-Star weekend, the NHL announced a new "superhero franchise", The Guardian Project  Created by comic book writer Stan Lee, the project featured 30 new superheroes representing the 30 NHL teams, all which were unveiled at the All-Star Game  The goal of the project was to appeal to pre-teen and teenage boys in hopes of bringing in "new audience to the NHL, while engaging the existing, established hockey fan base through a compelling tale of good vs  evil "

Voting
One hundred players were chosen to be on the ballot for the All-Star Game (minimum of two players from each team), but fans were also given the option to write in any player who was not listed  Ballots were all digital for the fourth consecutive time, giving fans the ability to cast votes online at NHL com and Facebook  Votes could also be cast via text messages from mobile devices and Smartphone users could vote by way of a mobile ballot feature  The NHL put no limitation on the number of votes an individual could cast  When fan balloting ended, 14 3 million votes had been cast and the top six were named to the All-Star Game  The six top vote recipients were from only two teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins (4) and Chicago Blackhawks (2)  Individually, Sidney Crosby led all players with 635,509 votes, while teammate Kris Letang was elected as a write-in candidate  The six players elected by the fans are listed below with their vote totals 

Draft
After naming the remaining All-Stars, each player voted for team captains  The players selected the 12-time All-Star, Nicklas Lidstrom, and the captain of the host Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Staal  Lidstrom was assigned the home blue uniforms while Staal received the away whites  The NHL further named their alternate captains, placing Ryan Kesler and Mike Green with Staal while Patrick Kane and Martin St  Louis joined Team Lidstrom  Prior to the draft, the NHL determined head coaches for the teams via a coin toss  Chicago's Joel Quenneville and his assistant, Mike Haviland, were named coaches as a result of winning the Stanley Cup last year  Philadelphia Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette and the Vancouver Canucks' Alain Vigneault earned the distinction by having the highest winning percentage through January 8, 2011  After the coin toss, Quenneville was assigned to Team Staal, while Laviolette and Vigneault were given Team Lidstrom Team Staal won the first pick in the draft, and Eric Staal chose longtime teammate Cam Ward with his first pick  With the fifth pick in the draft, Team Staal selected Daniel Sedin  His twin brother Henrik was taken with the next pick by Team Lidstrom  The All-Star Game marked the first time the two have ever played against each other in an organized game  Throughout the draft, Eric Staal selected players that had a personal connection with him  He selected his brother, Rangers defenceman Marc Staal, in the seventh round, fellow Thunder Bay native Patrick Sharp in the eighth round, and teammate Jeff Skinner in the 11th round  The last player selected was Toronto's Phil Kessel  As a reward for being the last selection, he was given a new car and $20,000 was given to the charity of his choice  Kessel stated he would put the money toward a cancer charity he became involved with in 2006 when he was battling testicular cancer  When the time came for the rookies to decide which team they would participate in the skills competition, Taylor Hall, who won the right via a puck flip, chose Team Lidstrom for his group  All players were allowed to wear the numbers they use in their respective teams  For Team Lidstrom, Henrik Sedin and Dustin Byfuglien both wore number 33, while Brad Richards and Steven Stamkos wore number 91  Team Staal had three pairs having same number: Patrick Sharp and Corey Perry with number 10, Daniel Sedin and Dan Boyle with number 22 and Paul Stastny and Patrik Elias with number 26  The complete team rosters are listed below with players appearing in the order in which they were chosen 

Withdrawn
Prior to the draft several players withdrew due to injury or, in the case of Jarome Iginla, family concerns 

SuperSkills Competition
The SuperSkills competition began with the Fastest Skater competition, where the competitors skated one lap around the rink  The winner of each round earned a point for their team  The opening round was skated backwards, followed by each team's rookie representative  Then two goaltenders skated off before returning to the traditional form  Following preliminary rounds the two fastest competitors from each team faced off in a final round, where Michael Grabner defeated Taylor Hall earning two points for Team Staal  The Breakaway Challenge featured six players (three from each team) taking four shoot-out attempts  Fans voted for the winner via text message  The winner earned four points for his team  Second place was awarded three points and third received one point  Alexander Ovechkin won by a wide margin defeating second place P  K  Subban by over 17 percentage points, it was the third consecutive win in the competition by Ovechkin  Loui Eriksson finished third to round out the point earners from the competition  The Shooting Accuracy featured two players shooting targets in the four corners of the net  Winners were determined by the fastest player to hit all four targets  Daniel Sedin hit all four targets on four shots in his first round setting the overall fastest time hitting them all in just 7 3 seconds  He followed that up by hitting four in five shots during the final round to defeat the Blackhawks' Patrick Kane Following Shooting Accuracy, both teams participated in the Skills Challenge Relay  Each team broke into two groups and went through a series of drills designed to showcase players' skills  It started with one timers, then proceeded to passing, where a single player had to complete a pass into six small nets  From there it went to the Puck Control Relay, having a participant skate through a series of cones with a puck  Another player then took on the Stick Handling drill, controlling a puck through a series of stationary pucks  The relay ended when a final player completed the Shooting Accuracy, again hitting all four targets  The two groups from Team Lidstrom finished first and third in the competition, gaining their team a total of five points  During the Hardest Shot competition reigning champion Zdeno Chara was defeated in his preliminary round match up by Shea Weber  In the final round, Chara again matched up with Weber  Chara successfully defended his title by defeating Weber with a shot registering 105 9 mph  The speed set a new SuperSkills record surpassing his own record and marking the fourth time he has won the event  Despite being down by a large margin prior to the Elimination Shootout, Team Lidstrom still had an opportunity to win the contest  Players continued to shoot provided they scored – scoring one point per goal, until only one player remained  However, the shoot-out was won by Team Staal's Corey Perry as he was the only player to score in all three of his attempts  The full results are listed below 

Game play
The scoring started early in the game as Team Staal's Alexander Ovechkin scored the game's first goal in just 50 seconds into the first period  When he took his first shift Jeff Skinner officially became the youngest player to play in an All-Star game (18 years, 259 days) surpassing the mark set in 1984 by Steve Yzerman by eight days  By the time Claude Giroux scored, less than five minutes later, Team Staal had opened up a 4–0 lead  Team Lidstrom's Marc-Andre Fleury allowed the four goals on only nine shots while his counterpart Cam Ward stopped the first four shots he faced  The tide turned a little over halfway through the first period when Anze Kopitar scored on a backhand shot  Team Lidstrom completed the first period comeback with under four minutes left in the period when Eriksson and Matt Duchene scored 23 seconds apart to tie the game at four  Team Lidstrom finished the period scoring on four of their final ten shots Team Staal recaptured the lead early in the second with goals by Patrick Sharp and Kris Letang  They were unable to hold the lead though as Team Lidstrom tied the game at six with a second goal from Kopitar and one by Steven Stamkos  They quickly took their first lead on a goal by Daniel Briere just 1:20 later, ending the period up 7–6 Early in the third period Eric Staal tied the game at seven with his first goal of the game  Minutes later Duchene got a breakaway, but before he could take a shot, Ovechkin threw his stick at the puck, resulting in the first penalty shot in All-Star game history, and only the third penalty assessed during the past ten years of All-Star competition  Duchene took the shot against Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped the attempt  Kris Letang scored shortly after the penalty shot to give back the lead to Team Staal  Briere scored a little over a minute later assisted by Weber and Henrik Sedin to re-tie the game  Weber's assist was his fourth of the game making him the second defenceman in history to record four assists in an All-Star Game (Ray Bourque, 1985)  Team Lidstrom added two more goals before Rick Nash scored to cut the deficit to one  With about a minute and a half left in the game, Team Staal pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker  The decision backfired as Eriksson scored on the empty net with 1:11 remaining  Eric Staal scored with 33 6 seconds remaining to bring his team back within one goal, but they failed to get another shot on goal before time ran out  By coming back from a four-goal deficit to win the game Team Lidstrom set the record for biggest comeback victory in All-Star history  Lidstrom finished the game with a +7 rating, the highest rating since 1991 when Adam Oates was also a +7 for the Wales Conference  Tim Thomas earned the victory becoming the first goaltender to win three straight All-Star Games  Patrick Sharp was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) after registering one goal and two assists in a losing cause for Team Staal  The combined 21 goals was the fourth highest total in NHL All-Star Game history 

Summary
W – Tim Thomas
L – Henrik Lundqvist

KeyPlayer1 (Player2, Player3) 1:00 denotes that Player1 scored a goal after 1:00, with assists from Player2 and Player3 
GWG denotes the game-winning goal 
EN denotes an empty net goal
W denotes the goaltender awarded the win 
L denotes the goaltender assigned the loss Source: NHL

Notes
^ A: Briere was named as a replacement for Iginla ^ B: Yandle was named as a replacement for Enstrom ^ C: Havlat was named as a replacement for Hemsky ^ D: Stastny was named as a replacement for Crosby ^ E: Skinner was named as a replacement for Malkin ^ F: McBain replaced Eberle on the rookie team ^ G: Subban was named as a replacement for Skinner who was promoted from the rookie team to the All-Star Game ^ H: Chara's shot was 105 9 mph (170 4 km/hr), a new record 
Passage 10:
23rd National Hockey League All-Star Game
The 23rd National Hockey League All-Star Game was held in the St  Louis Arena in St  Louis, home of the St  Louis Blues, on January 20, 1970  It was the first time the All-Star Game was held at the St  Louis Arena  The East Division All-Stars defeated the West Division All-Stars 4–1  Bobby Hull was named the game's most valuable player 
It was also the first NHL All-Star Game carried live on American network television, airing on CBS 

League business
Clarence Campbell, president of the NHL, announced that the NHL All-Star Game will be held in Boston in 1971, in Minnesota in 1972, and in New York City in 1973  He also announced that the NHL would expand to Buffalo and Vancouver for the next season 

The game
It was the first time the game had been held outside of the Stanley Cup champion's home rink since the 1948 game in Chicago  Brad Park, Bobby Clarke and Tony Esposito were the only three players making their first appearance in the game  Clarke was substituting for Phil Goyette, who had a knee injury 

Summary
Source: Podnieks

Team lineups
See also
1969–70 NHL season



ground_truth: 1998

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Yau Ma Tei North is a district of a city with how many citizens?

The following are given passages.
Context 4:  Baby One More Time", which attained global success  It was followed by the release of her debut studio album    Baby One More Time (1999), which opened at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and was later certified fourteen-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)  Spears's second studio album, Oops!    I Did It Again, was released on May 16, 2000, and became the fastest-selling album by a female act in the US, selling 1,319,193 units in its opening week  It spawned the singles "Oops!    I Did It Again", "Lucky", "Stronger", and "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know"  In November 2001, Spears's released "I'm a Slave 4 U", the lead single from her self-titled third studio album (2001)  In November 2003, Spears's fourth studio album, In the Zone, was released  The album includes "Me Against the Music", a collaboration with Madonna that reached number one on the European Hot 100 Singles, and "Toxic", which earned Spears her first Grammy Award in the category Best Dance Recording  Her first compilation album, Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, was released the following year 
Following her personal struggles through 2007, Spears's fifth studio album, Blackout, was released in October of the same year  The album sold over three million units worldwide, spawning the hit singles "Gimme More" and "Piece of Me"  With the release of her sixth studio album Circus (2008), Spears became the only act in the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present) to have four albums debut with US sales of 500,000 or more copies  Including the singles "Womanizer" and "Circus", it sold four million copies worldwide Spears's third compilation album, The Singles Collection (2009), includes her third US number-one single "3"  In 2011, Spears released the single "Hold It Against Me", making her the second artist in the Billboard Hot 100 chart's 52-year history to debut at number one with two or more songs, after Mariah Carey  The track was included on her seventh studio album Femme Fatale (2011), which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200  Spears's eighth studio album, Britney Jean, was released in 2013; it made little commercial impact and received mixed reviews from critics but spawned the hit single "Work Bitch", which was certified platinum in the United States  Glory, the ninth studio album from Spears, was released in August 2016 to critical praise and chart success but failed to reach the success of her other albums 
Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide and more than 28 6 million digital singles in the US alone, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time  Billboard ranked her as the eighth-overall Artist of the Decade; it also recognized her as the best-selling female album artist of the first decade of the 21st century and the fifth overall  The RIAA also recognized Spears as the eighth top-selling female artist in the US, with 34 5 million certified albums  Spears is among the few artists in history to have had a number-one single and a number-one album in each of the three decades of their career (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s) 

Songs
Passage 7:
Heaven Only Knows (album)
Heaven Only Knows is the seventh album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass  It was his final studio album for Philadelphia International, released just after he left the label to record for Asylum Records  It produced one single, "I Want My Baby Back," which reached #61 on the Billboard charts in 1984 

Critical reception
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that, "except for the gentle, eloquent 'Crazy About Your Love', these Gamble- and Huff-produced tunes are mawkish and overblown "

Track listing
"Crazy About Your Love" (Bobby Womack, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff)
"Judge for Yourself" (Dexter Wansel, Cynthia Biggs)
"I Want My Baby Back" (Womack, Gamble)
"Life Is for Living" (Frank Prescott, Michael Burton, Phil Terry)
"You and Me for Right Now" (Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead)
"Just Because You're Mine" (Gene McFadden, John Whitehead)
"Heaven Only Knows" (LeRoy Bell, Casey James)
"Don't Ever Stop (Giving Your Love to Me)" (Gamble, Huff)
Passage 8:
Mark Chesnutt (album)
Mark Chesnutt is the tenth studio album by American country music artist Mark Chesnutt  His only album for the Columbia Records Nashville label, it features the singles "She Was", "I Want My Baby Back" and "I'm in Love with a Married Woman", which peaked at #11, #47, and #48, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts  "I'm in Love with a Married Woman" was later recorded by Blaine Larsen on his 2006 album Rockin' You Tonight 

Track listing
Personnel
Chart performance
Passage 9:
Oh Santa!
"Oh Santa!" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her second Christmas album and thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010)  Carey wrote and produced the song in collaboration with Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox  It was released as the lead single from the album on October 1, 2010 by Island Def Jam Records  It is an up-tempo R&B song about Carey making a plea for Santa Claus to bring back her partner in time for the Christmas holidays  It received a positive response from music critics, with many praising its composition and style 
The track set a record on the United States Billboard Adult Contemporary songs chart, debuting at number twelve and peaking at number one the following week for four weeks  It became the first song to reach the summit in two weeks  It further became Carey's seventh number-one song on the chart  Carey filmed a 1960s-style music video to accompany the song's release as a single, and performed it on various programs in the lead up to Christmas, including her own TV special called Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You 
It was later adapted to be the finale of A Christmas Melody, a 2015 Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, with its lyrics tweaked to be relevant for Broadway child performer Fina Strazza's character singing about her single mother finding love  On December 4, 2020, a new version was released featuring singers Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, as a single from the soundtrack to Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special for Apple TV+ 

Background and composition
"Oh Santa!" was written and produced by Mariah Carey, Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox for Carey's second Christmas/thirteenth studio album, Merry Christmas II You (2010); Rye Songs administered by Songs of Universal (BMI)/Shaniah Cymone Music|EMI April Music Inc  (ASCAP)/WBM Music Corp Inc /Pamela & Lorrence's Publishing LLC (SESAC)  Her vocals were recorded by Brian Garten, Marcus Johnson and Thomas Kanarek, Martin Cooke, Nicholas Essif and Peter Mack, and the music by John Horesco at Guardian Angel Studios, Westlake Recording Studios, Henson Studios and Capitol Recording Studios  It was mixed by Phil Tan and Damien Lewis at The Ninja Beat Club  Dupri played the drums and Randy Jackson performed bass  Cox plated the keyboard and percussion  The background vocals were sung by Angie Fisher, Melonie Daniels, Maryann Tatum, Sharlotte Gibson and Toni Scruggs "Oh Santa!" was one of four original compositions by Carey to be included on the album  It premiered on October 1, 2010, in the United States  An EP consisting of six remixes by Jump Smokers and Low Sunday were released on December 7, while a mix of "Oh Santa! and one of Carey's previous Christmas songs "All I Want for Christmas Is You", titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)", was released on December 17  "Oh Santa!" is an up-tempo and festive R&B song, which lasts for a duration of three minutes, thirty-one seconds  It has a 1960s girl-group swing feel  The song, in the key of C♯ major, has a tempo of 80 beats per minute  Carey's voice spans more than three octaves, from  B♭2 to the high note of F♯6  Instrumentation consists of sleigh bells, jingle bells, hand claps and a piano melody, backed by a "school-yard chant beat"  Lyrically, Carey makes a plea to Santa Claus asking him to bring back her "baby" in time for Christmas, singing "Santa's gon' come and make him mine this Christmas "

Critical reception
Mike Diver of the BBC wrote that "Oh Santa!" is a "boisterous" song which "makes perfect sense" as a lead single  He continued to write that although it fell substandard to "All I Want for Christmas Is You", it would still "warrant revisiting 12 months down the line"  Rolling Stone writer Caryn Ganz commented on the composition, writing "Mariah bops to a schoolyard-chant beat"  Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle described the song as "irresistible" and predicted that it would "dominate ringtones" in the run up to Christmas  A reviewer for Idolator described the track as a "boppy" Christmas version of Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend"  Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice was critical of the song, writing "Of the four Mariah-penned new tracks, the Jermaine Dupri/Bryan-Michael Cox collaboration 'Oh Santa!' tries the hardest, an antique kitchen-sink replica that manages to invoke a cheerleading squad, the Pointer Sisters, Mariah's own 'Loverboy', and Hey Ya!'  Full of mumbling and cattiness, it's difficult to sing along to, so its prospects of becoming a perennial favorite are dim "

Chart performance
In the United States, "Oh Santa!" became a record-breaking entry on the Billboard Adult Contemporary songs chart  It debuted at number twelve for the issue dated December 11, 2010  The track soared to number one the following week, marking the quickest ascent to the peak position since Nielsen BDS began tracking airplay in 1993, in just two weeks  Previously, eight songs had reached number one within three weeks, four of which were Christmas entries due to adult contemporary radio stations playing an increased amount in the holiday season  "Oh Santa!" became Carey's seventh number-one hit on the chart, and her first in fifteen years since "One Sweet Day" (1995–96), a duet with Boyz II Men  The singer also topped the chart with her debut single "Vision of Love" (her first) and "Love Takes Time" in 1990, "I Don't Wanna Cry" in 1991, and "Can't Let Go" and "I'll Be There" in 1992  "Oh Santa!" remained atop the chart for four consecutive weeks altogether  It finished at number 42 on the 2011 Adult Contemporary year-end chart  For the week ending October 30, 2010, Carey occupied the top two positions on the Holiday Digital Songs chart: "Oh Santa!" debuted at number one while "All I Want For Christmas Is You" charted at number two  On January 1, 2011, the track debuted at number one-hundred on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number forty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Songs chart Elsewhere, the track debuted at number thirty-six on the South Korean Gaon International Digital Singles Chart for the week ending November 20, 2010  It later peaked at number thirty-two for the week ending December 25, 2010  On the International Download Singles Chart, the track peaked at number thirty  "On Santa!" peaked at number sixty-eight on the Japan Hot 100  The song peaked at number seventy-three on January 1, 2011, for two consecutive weeks on the Canadian Hot 100 chart 

Music video
The music video for "Oh Santa!" was directed by Ethan Lader and was shot in Los Angeles on October 6, 2010  Reports surfaced online that Carey's then-husband Nick Cannon would be directing the video, however Cannon dispelled the rumors on Twitter, saying "I am NOT directing " The video for "Oh Santa!" premiered on entertainment news program Access Hollywood on November 2, 2010  Prior to its release, various media outlets speculated that the video was going incorporate the same on-set style as seen in Outkast's music video for their 2003 single "Hey Ya!", with the singer as the main feature in front of  a large audience  Carey's fan site MariahDaily posted a message on their website asking people within the Los Angeles area to appear for a casting call for a chance to be featured in the video 

Synopsis
The video draws influence from the 1950s and 1960s variety shows and features Carey wearing a short, red "sexy Santa" ensemble, whilst on stage with a band, which featured gospel backup singers as well as a group of dancers, consisting of cheerleaders  The plotline is centered on Carey hosting a "Mariah Carey Christmas" television show  The announcer introduces Carey saying "here she is, the greatest singer of all time, Ms  Mariah Carey!"  The video then shows Carey's backup singers belting out the chorus while the singer is seen performing in front of a cheering audience  Her collection of fragrances is also advertised in the opening  In the second half of the video, Santa Claus makes an appearance, waving to friends and sharing a hug with Carey  The video ends with the singer laughing while the audience cheers and claps for her performance 

Reception
Becky Bain of Idolator commented on the simple structure and themes of the video, writing "There’s not much to this simple vid, but it does feature Carey doing her usual hand-waving theatrics while hitting some absolutely killer high notes " Bain also observed that the vast majority of the shots of Carey are either long shots, showing the singer from a distance, or close-up shots, showing Carey from the shoulders and above so that the viewer was not able to easily recognize that she was pregnant  Nicole James of MTV Buzzworthy also praised the content of the video, writing "Of course, it wouldn't be a Mariah Carey video without some glitz and glam so the stage and backdrop are covered in (what else?) glitter  Mariah puts on a great show and sings her heart out with that famous eight-octave range     scrooges need not apply, 'Oh Santa!' is fun and festive and has you longing for a sip of eggnog "

Remixes
When the song was first released as a single in 2010, six dance remixes were commissioned and were later released as a digital EP  A mashup of the song with 1994's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" produced by Jump Smokers titled "Oh Santa! All I Want for Christmas Is You (Holiday Mashup)" was also released on December 13, 2010 

Track listings and formats
Charts
Tenth anniversary version featuring Ariana Grande & Jennifer Hudson
For the tenth anniversary of the song, Carey re-recorded and re-released the song commercially as a new remix  Carey recorded the new version of the song with Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson  The new version served as the lead single from Carey's second soundtrack album, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special  The song was released across all streaming platforms on December 4, 2020, accompanied by its official music video, premiered the same day on Carey's YouTube account 

Background
Talking to Billboard, Carey stated in regards to the song that "originally, I was blending with myself [   ] but it was cool to be able to work with the different vocal textures and play around with it and reimagine it " She went on to describe the song as a "girl group moment" 

Reception
The remix received positive reviews on release  Billboard writer Rania Aniftos wrote that the three singers "trading verses and harmonies" amounts for a "truly angelic result"  Chris Murphy, writer for Vulture went on to say that "the trio, the remix, and the accompanying music video absolutely makes the nice list in every possible way "In its first week of release, the song sold 10,000 downloads in the United States and 9,250 equivalent units in the United Kingdom 

Charts
Release history
See also
List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2010
List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2011
List of artists who reached number one on the U S  Adult Contemporary chart
Passage 10:
Black Elvis/Lost in Space
Black Elvis/Lost in Space is the fourth solo studio album by American rapper and producer Kool Keith, and his first release under the alias of 'Black Elvis'  It was intended to be released the same day as First Come, First Served, but was pushed back by Columbia Records and ended up being released four months later on August 10, 1999 through Relativity Entertainment Distribution rather than Sony Music Distribution, denoted by the WK prefix instead of the customary CK prefix and the legal copy on the release   Black Elvis 2 followed in 2023 

Background
Kool Keith uses very complex rhymes on various subject matters from Black Elvis' viewpoint on half of the album and on the other half elaborates on space travel and being lost in space  This is the first album for which Keith handled all of the production, although drum programming was done by Kutmasta Kurt and Marc Live  Sadat X, Black Silver, Roger Troutman, Motion Man, Kid Capri and Pimpin' Rex made guest appearances on the record 
A promotional video was made for the track "Livin' Astro" which aired on a few episodes of the MTV show Amp in early 2000  The video features Kool Keith acting as several different personas amidst a sci-fi backdrop that resembles the Black Elvis/Lost in Space album cover  The personas include the Original Black Elvis, Orange Man, the Kid in the Commercial, Lonnie Hendrex, and Light-Blue Cop 
Kool Keith was displeased with the lack of promotion for the Black Elvis project, and vented his frustrations about his label on the songs "Release Date" and "Test Press " He also published the e-mail addresses of several Ruffhouse executives, asking his fans to demand better promotion 

Reception
The album peaked at number 180 on the US Billboard 200, #74 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #10 on the Heatseekers Albums 

Track listing
Sample credits
Track 5 contains elements from "Come Go With Me" by Teddy Pendergrass (1979)
Track 8 contains elements from "Our House" by Madness (1982)
Track 11 contains elements from "Snake" by Charles Earland (1973)
Track 16 contains elements from "You Used to Love Me" by Faith Evans (1995)

Personnel
Charts



ground_truth: 7.2 million