It's do or die for HK triathletes to prevent funding axe

It is almost as if Daniel Lee Chi-wo has been caught in a time warp. Four years ago, he left for the Doha Asian Games with the onerous task of saving triathlon's status as an elite sport at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. He now finds himself in this same, unenviable position.

'I have a huge responsibility on my shoulders - the responsibility of trying to keep triathlon as an elite sport,' says Lee. 'It will be harder this time - I'm four years older and the competition will be tougher.'

Tougher because of the unexpected return of defending Asian Games gold medalist Dmitriy Gaag of Kazakhstan. Gaag was banned for two years for failing a drugs test, but he has served his sentence and despite not having raced recently, is back in the fray to defend his crown.

Local triathlon faces a Guangzhou Games ultimatum. If the two athletes - the other being Andrew Wright - fail to perform, the sport will lose the millions of dollars of support it gets annually from Hong Kong's elite academy.

Lee saved triathlon from the axe last time around when he won a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. Lee, 29 at the time, outsprinted Kazakhstan's Daniil Sapunov over the last 50 metres to finish second in the gruelling 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run event, which was making its Asian Games debut.

Hong Kong's top triathlete shrugs his shoulders at the prospect of having to play saviour once again. 'I will try to do my best,' says Lee, who will have to win a medal to ensure the sport's future at the Sha Tin institute.