Mother-to-be Lee Lai-shan says she can't wait for a delivery of another kind - the arrival of the new Olympic boards that will be used for the first time at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Hong Kong's windsurfing champion announced yesterday that she was going to have a baby for the first time in August. Expected to arrive earlier is the shipment of new boards, which are due in Hong Kong in May or June.
The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) decided last November at their council meeting that a new design Olympic board would be used in Beijing. The Neil Pryde RS: X hybrid, which is faster than the old design, replaces the ageing Mistral One-design board, and San San says she wants to try out the new equipment after resuming training and completing her pregnancy.
It is understood that the new equipment would suit the bigger Europeans and that athletes such as San San would be at a disadvantage. The old Mistral design had suited lightweight athletes. 'I would like to try them out after my pregnancy. It's good timing because my baby is due in late August, or early September, and I should have recovered from the pregnancy and begun light training in October,' said San San, Olympic gold medallist at the Atlanta Games.
Hong Kong's most celebrated athlete says she intends to take part in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha and the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But she said she would miss the All-China National Games in Jiang Su province in October.
'Because of my pregnancy, I won't compete in any competition for a long time, but I intend to continue competing and I am thinking about the Asian Games and Olympics. Right now, my mind is on the baby so I can't think about competition too much.'