Hong Kong sailing to earn cash bonanza to boost Rio Olympics hopes
Two-year elite status review cycle ends, with top sailors' Olympic Games qualifying campaigns set to benefit from generous funding
Sailing's formal elevation to the elite programme at the Sports Institute - a major boost for sailors preparing for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro - comes a step closer on Wednesday when the two-year review cycle ends.
The silver medal won by Tse Siu-lun and Chik Ho-yin in the men's 420 class at the Asian Championships and the bronze medal earned by Tong Yui-shing and Tong Kit-fong's on their hobie-16 at the Incheon Asian Games this year ensured that the sport reached the required nine-point benchmark during the review period. Sailing joins tennis as new members at the Fo Tan training complex.
This will be a tangible reward to our sailors for their hard work over these year
Tennis qualified after Lynn Zhang Ling reached the women's singles semi-finals at the 2013 Asian Championships in Bangkok. The sport was kicked out of the elite programme in 2009 after failing to meet the criteria for two consecutive cycles.
The two sports' elite status is due to be formally ratified by the government's Elite Sports Committee in February before being endorsed by the Sports Commission, whereupon millions of dollars in funding will be come available to foster the sports' development.
"This will be a tangible reward to our sailors for their hard work over these years," said Hong Kong Sailing Federation council member Chan Yuk-wah, who is also the chairman of the 420 class in Hong Kong. "With the financial support of the institute, we can strengthen our campaign to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games.
"Olympic qualification began with the ISAF World Championships this year but half of the berths will be decided at next year's respective individual class world championships and the continental qualification event. We can now put in more resources to focus on these two regattas."
Under the elite programme, each sport gains access to a wide range of support, including world-class coaching staff, use of facilities, local and overseas training, and competition and full technical support. Athletes can also receive a maximum elite training grant of HK$32,000 monthly.
Chan, who represented Hong Kong at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the men's 470 with Andrew Service, said the 470 class presented their best chance to qualify for the Rio Games. "We have a bunch of fast improving young sailors in the 420 class [these boats are 50cm shorter than the 470s] but they have to progress further to meet the new challenges [of 470-class racing]," he said.
A cloud on the horizon is that both the hobie and the 420 classes have been dropped from the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, meaning the sailors face a lot of hard work to retain their elite status.
"I have already asked our federation to lobby more Asian countries to reconsider the 2018 Asian Games programmes and hopefully both classes can be reinstated," Chan said.
There are 16 sports at the institute, but triathlon is set to lose its status after being the only sport that has failed to meet a newly added criterion of securing a medal at the Asian Games. This criterion only applies to sports that have to retain their elite sport status, while new sports are exempted.
