It is not easy for high-profile professional tennis stars to get lost in a crowd, especially at the Olympic Games, where they are surrounded by mostly unknown amateurs purveying the Corinthian spirit of amateurism and so on. But that is what happened to Spanish woman Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, who only two weeks ago lost to Steffi Graf in the Wimbledon singles final. It took alert members of the Hong Kong press, awaiting the arrival of the territory's Olympic team, to cause a frantic rush amongst the international press.

Despite the presence of veteran news hounds from the overseas media, Sanchez Vicario was casually walking around the arrival area, pushing her cart, accompanied by her mother, and not really knowing where to go. All this right under the noses of the hacks. As she finally found her bearings and made off towards a waiting vehicle, she was spotted by Hong Kong photographers, who lit up the drab atmosphere by sprinting towards the Sanchez Vicario entourage before they got away. Waking up from his slumber, one American television reporter asked what all the excitement was about. On hearing that Sanchez Vicario was in the vicinity, he sparked a stampede of international hacks that chased eagerly after the tennis star.

The affable Spaniard duly obliged the reporters, saying she still has a tough task even with the withdrawal of German favourite Steffi Graf. 'There are still a lot of good players out there,' she said.