Shek Wai-hung has become the first gymnast from Hong Kong to qualify for an Olympic Games after a resolute performance at the test event in London.
Last year's world championships vault finalist, Shek finished 12th in the men's all-around competition from a field of 98 athletes at North Greenwich Arena, which will also be the gymnastics venue for the Games this summer.
Hong Kong first entered the Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki, but the city has never had a gymnast compete at the Games. May Kwong Mei-fong received a wild card for the 1998 Games in Seoul, South Korea, when there were no qualifying events, but she did not compete due to injuries.
'It's like a dream come true,' the 20-year-old Shek said. 'I started training at the age of seven and going to the Olympic Games has always been my biggest ambition.
'I failed to make it to the last Games in Beijing four years ago, but when I was later appointed one of the flag bearers for the torch relay in Hong Kong, it just made me more eager to qualify for the London Games. When I saw my results at the test event and realised I had qualified, I was so excited I couldn't sleep all night.'
A vault specialist, Shek scored his highest mark in the event among his six routines with a score of 16.033, putting him in seventh place. But he also maintained a high standard in the remaining five disciplines - the horizontal bar, floor exercise, rings, pommel horse and parallel bars. His overall result will certainly boost his hopes for a medal at the London Games.