Hannah's stroke of misfortune

For her 15th birthday, on March 10, Hannah Wilson would like nothing more than a card from Hong Kong's Olympic Committee saying 'YES'. She is praying for this unequivocal statement, an affirmation of her hours of sacrifice in the swimming pool in pursuit of a dream that is now in danger of being dashed.

Hannah's dream is to represent Hong Kong at the Athens Olympics this summer. By merit and by right, she should be on the plane to Greece for she is the fastest swimmer in Hong Kong, currently holding the SAR record for the 100 metres freestyle, the blue riband race in the pool. What's more, her time of 57.79 seconds is within the Olympic qualifying standard.

But the dreams have turned into nightmares for Hannah with the recent announcement by the local Olympic committee that only athletes who have an SAR passport can represent Hong Kong at the Olympics. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hannah finds herself in no-man's land because she holds a British passport.

'I'm a Hong Kong girl. I was born here and I have lived here all my life. My parents are English but have lived here for more than 20 years and they consider Hong Kong as home. This is my home too,'' says Hannah.

The depth of her desire to represent Hong Kong is so intense that her parents, Jane and Patrick, even considered the option of giving up her British passport and applying for a Hong Kong SAR travel document.

'Yes, we considered this option even though we didn't like it. I went to the British consulate with the idea of renouncing her passport. But I was told that I couldn't renounce it for her as she was a minor and it was her birthright,'' reveals Jane Wilson, who like her husband is an architect.