HONG KONG athletes enjoyed their most successful multi-sports meeting when they collected a total of 11 medals - six golds, two silvers and three bronzes - at the inaugural Pacific Ocean Games in Cali, Colombia.
Student swimmer Robyn Lamsam was the toast of the seven-strong Hong Kong squad with three gold medals but the best achievement was perhaps the silver earned by cyclist Wong Kam-po.
While most of the participating countries sent second or third stringers to the Colombia meeting in most sports, cycling was the most competitive with the host team determined to sweep the table.
However, Kam-po spoiled the party when he took second place in the 175 km individual road race which started from Palmire and finished with a seven-lap criterion within the Games hub city of Cali 120 km away.
Kam-po was with the third group in 12th position going into the penultimate lap but staged a bold solo run to catch the leading team comprising three Colombian riders.
The Hong Kong ace, bronze medallist at the Asian Championships two months ago, surprised the Colombian crowd who had been hoping for a one-two-three sweep by the home team when he outsprinted two of his rivals to finish second.
'The conditions were very tough. It was hot and there was a two-kilometre uphill stretch in the criterion,' said Hong Kong Cycling Association official Walter Yue Kar-lok.
