Chung Chi has long been characterised by its immense dedication to sports, which could be attributed to Dr. Lee Ying Lin, the Founding President of the College. As a sports enthusiast, Dr. Lee was a talented football and basketball player with outstanding sports achievements when studying at Lingnan Xuetang (Canton Christian College, later renamed as Lingnan University). While serving Chung Chi, he endeavoured to assimilate Lingnan's dedication to sports into the College culture. Therefore, Chung Chi provided physical education upon its establishment and made it a compulsory subject in 1955, becoming the first post-secondary institution in Hong Kong to have such an arrangement.

With the mission of promoting sports, the College employed Mr. Lee Siu Lok Aaron, an alumnus of Lingnan University, as an instructor and later the Director of Physical Education. During his tenure, in addition to designing various sports courses, Mr. Lee also organised two major outdoor events, namely the annual Ma On Shan Climbing and Cross Tolo Harbour Swimming Competitions. Given the lack of standard athletics venues in Hong Kong at that time, he strived for building the first standard stadium inaugurated in 1959 in Hong Kong. Later, the College received a generous donation from Lingnan alumnus Mr. Chan Tak Tai Edward to “carry forward the excellent tradition and sportsmanship of Lingnan” with the establishment of the “Lingnan Stadium”.

In the late 1960s, the stadium and associated facilities commenced operations, which not only fulfilled Chung Chi students’ needs, but also motivated them to learn from one another through engaging in sports events with students from other institutions. At that time, the sports day of the three Colleges of CUHK and tertiary institutions, as well as inter-university sports competitions were all held at Chung Chi, which greatly boosted the popularity of sports in the College and enhanced students’ sports performance.