Tang breaks record and dreams of Beijing

A much coveted place at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games became a distinct possibility for Form Five student Tang Yik-chun after he broke the Chiang Wai-hung's Hong Kong 200 metres record in the first round of the Watson's Water Athletic King Championship at Wan Chai yesterday.

As he crossed the finish line at the end of his 200m heat, Tang threw his arms in the air looked across to see the giant scoreboard at Wan Chai Sport Ground showing a time of 20.9 seconds. The time was later adjusted to 21.02 as recorded by the official system, but still bettered Chiang's national record by 0.19 seconds and was also 0.25 seconds inside Tang's own junior record, set last month in a junior elite meet on the same track.

Tin Shui Wai-based Tang won the junior Athletic King title last year after an impressive display of sprinting during the four-round series, and has been widely tipped to take the men's sprint disciplines to a new level with his natural talent and burning ambition to line up with the best sprinters in the world in Beijing.

'My coach told me I would break the record in this weekend's event,' said the shy but rather fast 18-year-old, who took up sprinting only in October 2003. 'I actually broke the junior 200m record last December but the time was declared invalid because it was wind assisted.

'Four months ago my coach [Ko Chi-hang] planned my training schedule with the sole intention of peaking for this weekend's event, so I'm not surprised to have broken the record today. He says I can run under 21 seconds for the 200m, so I now have a realistic chance of reaching the Olympic B standard of 20.85.

'After today's performance I now plan to have a go at the Hong Kong 100m record, but it will probably happen later in the year.'