Hong Kong Athletics Championships: long jumper Ko Ho-long joins ‘8-metre club’ with win
- The 24-year-old is ‘so happy’ after smashing personal best twice at Wan Chai Sports Ground on Saturday
- Athletics officials plan to send at least the same number of athletes to Asian Games in Hangzhou as Jakarta 2018
Long jumper Ko Ho-long believes his battle to make it to the Asian Games is not over despite winning with a personal best of 8.01 metres at the Hong Kong Athletics Championships on Sunday.
Ko posted his record on his fifth jump at Wan Chai Sports Ground, becoming just the second long jumper from the city to break the 8m mark.
“There is a so called ‘eight-metre club’ in long jump and I am so happy to have joined them,” Ko – who will turn 25 next month – said.
“This is the standard that you can consider yourself an Asian-level long jumper. To be honest, I have been so eager to reach this mark for quite a while, especially after I had a wind assisted 8.28m result ruled as a foul during a training camp in Europe last year.”
Ko’s previous best was 7.87m when he won the Thailand Open in November and he broke it twice in Wan Chai, posting 7.94m on his second jump.
“My family runs a restaurant and they closed the business on Sunday to come and support me. I am so grateful to them,” Ko said.
