Student Lai Chi-wai is the first to win a gold medal in climbing for Hong Kong
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Lai Chi-wai looks like any other ordinary teenager but, in fact, he is the only person to ever win the Asian Youth Competition Climbing Championships two years in a row.
In October last year, he defeated 50 other climbers in Beijing and walked off with Hong Kong's first ever gold medal in the sport.
This year's tournament in July saw Chi-wai take on his rivals once again, this time in Zanjan, Iran.
Chi-wai walked off with the trophy for the second consecutive year. He is currently ranked number one in the under-18 division in Asia.
'Next year I'll be 19 and will be too old for the youth championships, therefore this was my last chance to set a record,' said Chi-wai.
He made his debut at the 13th Hong Kong Open Climbing Competition in May last year and finished second. At that time few people thought he would scale such heights and claim the Asian title as his own.
After victory at the Asian Youth Championships in Beijing in October last year, Chi-wai came second at the Asian Open Championship in Kuala Lumpur a month later. As the youngest contestant, he lost the contest to an Indonesian competitor.
For Chi-wai, the time leading up to this year's championships was a stressful period.
'Being the defending champion put me under a lot of stress. I remember I couldn't sleep the night before the semi-final because I was going to meet a Korean climber in the final round. I had beaten him in the final last year in the same tournament,' he says.
But Chi-wai's Korean rival, Park Hoe-yong, was a worthy adversary. Both made it through to the finals with little difficulty.
However, Chi-wai knew the finals would be tough and made sure he took time out to relax before competing against Hoe-yong.
'I was pretty stressed out that day, but so was Park, I guess. I didn't talk to anybody before our round. Instead I stayed alone trying to clear my mind. Without the stress I believe I would have done better,' says Chi-wai.
The competition proved tough but Chi-wai finally walked off with the trophy after beating an exhausted Hoe-yong by only three seconds.
Complimenting his closest rival, Chi-wai said Hoe-yong was not only a skilled climber but he also demonstrated good sportsmanship.
'He approached me after our round, slapped me on my back and congratulated me, saying it was a pleasure to meet me in the tournament. We'll both be promoted next year and I really hope I can meet him again soon,' says Chi-wai.
Now a fifth former preparing for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE), Chi-wai has to make an agonising decision. He has to figure out a way to strike a balance between training and study.
At present he trains for five hours a day, four days a week but realises that soon he will have to cut back and concentrate on his studies.
'This is a problem that every teenage athlete has to face in Hong Kong. They have to spend a lot of time practising, while they also have to cope with their studies. I think I'm going to reduce the time I spend training this year, but I'll definitely resume my full schedule after the HKCEE,' says Chi-wai.
