Coach Shen key to cycling success

Hong Kong's best cyclist of the 1980s, Hung Chung-yam, does not envy the success of the city's younger riders in Guangzhou but believes he would have achieved far more had he enjoyed the support of a coach like Shen Jinkang.

Shen, who represented China and later became their national coach, took charge of the Hong Kong squad in 1994 and under his guidance cycling has become one of the most successful sports for Hong Kong, especially at these Games where the team have won three golds, four silvers and one bronze medal. More medals are possible in the individual road races this week.

But it was a different story before Shen's arrival. 'In those days, we were pretty much on our own,' the 47-year-old Hung, who is the Hong Kong team manager at the Games, said. 'When we went overseas for training or competitions, the association would just nominate one of the older riders to manage the team.

'There was no training system in place and there were no special facilities to help us improve our standards. All we could do was rely on our own experience to handle whatever situation we came across.'

Despite the unfavourable conditions, Hung still managed impressive results - winning the Hong Kong championship seven times, representing Hong Kong at two Olympics (in Los Angeles and Seoul) and qualifying for the world road race championships four times.

He finished 12th at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, only losing out on a bronze medal - which would have been Hong Kong's first at an Olympics - to a Polish rider by a turn of a wheel.