Sprinter So keen on gold rather than records
Sprinter So Wa-wai will be aiming for gold rather than world records when he leads a strong 109-member Hong Kong squad to the inaugural Asian Para Games, which will be held in Guangzhou two weeks after the completion of the Asian Games.
'This is the first Asian Para Games and my target is to win gold medals,' said So, 29, who holds world records in the men's 100 metres and 200 metres run for athletes with cerebral palsy.
'Of course, it will be a great achievement if I can win gold medals and break world records at the same time, but life is always not perfect. Sometimes when you want to get both, you end up winning nothing.'
So, who bettered his own 200m world record at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games with a gold medal, has yet to decide whether he will attempt to represent Hong Kong at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London if he feels that he will still be competitive. His 100m world record was set at the world championships in 2007.
Other than the two sprinting events, So will also be joined by three youngsters for the 4x100m relay - his first relay in a major Games for more than seven years.
So won his first Paralympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games in the 4x100 metres relay.
Chef de mission Patrick Ng Chak-lin said athletics, wheelchair fencing, boccia and rowing offered them their best gold medal hopes.
'We won 15 gold medals when the event was held in Kuala Lumpur four years ago as the Fespic Games, but it will not be easy to better that result as many Asian countries have invested a lot in disabled sports,' he said.
Hong Kong will take part in 14 sports at the Guangzhou Games, which include archery, badminton, judo, weightlifting, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling and wheelchair basketball.
