Future glows for Wilson after stunner

Hannah Wilson was last night tipped to bring more glory for Hong Kong after becoming the first athlete to win a medal - and a gold at that - at the World University Games.

Wilson, who denounced her British citizenship in order to participate in the World University Games, won the women's 100-metre freestyle in a time of 54.35 seconds in Belgrade, Serbia. The 20-year-old, a second year student at the University of California at Berkeley, also shattered her Hong Kong record of 55.32 seconds, set at the Beijing Olympic Games last summer, and that will earn her a hefty HK$250,000 cash award from the Sports Institute's Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme. The Olympic record is 53.12 set by German Britta Steffen in Beijing last year.

Hong Kong head coach Chan Yiu-hoi predicted a rosy future for the fast-improving Wilson.

'Hannah has made great progress since she moved to the US in 2007,' he said. 'She has a great team of swimmers at the university where they can provide the best training environment. She still has room for improvement and will win more medals for Hong Kong in future.'

Wilson's mother, Jane, said from Belgrade last night: 'This is great news for Hong Kong as a home-grown talent has won a gold medal in a world-class time. She never expected to win in such a good time. She just goes out and enjoys swimming.'

The head of the Hong Kong delegation, Patrick Chan Ping-cheung, said he had witnessed athletes winning medals at individual sports at world university championships before but never in a multi-sports Games. 'Hannah has done us proud,' he said.

Coach Chan said they had targeted the Belgrade Games as a major breakthrough for medals.