Nothing makes us feel more honoured than seeing a familiar face waving the bauhinia flag heroically at a world sporting event. Our home-grown track cyclist
Sarah Lee Wai-sze has made us proud again with her
double gold medals at the world championships in Poland. Boasting a bag load of medals and three rainbow jerseys, the 31-year-old is truly Hong Kong’s glory. Her commitment to excel is testimony to the city’s unyielding spirit and desire to achieve.
Just like the city has experienced ups and downs over the years, the velodrome queen has also experienced bitter defeats, the most heart-wrenching being at the Rio Olympics when she was nudged by an Australian rival and tumbled in the keirin semi-final. But a resilient Lee soon bounced back to later beat the Australian in the second round of the sprint. Early this month, Lee again showed her strength and determination. Soon after racing through the finish line in triumph at the world championships she declared her next ambition – success at the
Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
From a public housing girl in Ngau Tau Kok to the world’s best track-cycling sprinter, Lee’s story is just as legendary as that of
windsurfing queen Lee Lai-shan, the city’s only Olympic gold medallist. Their roads to triumph have been paved with hardships and failures, but their hard work has paid off. They embody the Hong Kong spirit and have become a source of inspiration to many who are still struggling to achieve.
Our elite sports credentials certainly go beyond these two. Increasingly, our athletes are attaining outstanding achievements in international and regional sports events, clinching a total of 187 gold, 183 silver and 250 bronze medals in 2016 for example.
That said, there is still much room for improvement, not just in terms of athletic excellence, but also the management of sporting associations and athletes’ post-retirement careers. The additional injection of HK$250 million into the Hong Kong Athletes Fund and the extra funding for national sports associations by the financial secretary this year is a shot in the arm for the sporting community. But the greater input also raises public expectations for more success stories. With better policies and funding support, hopefully, we will see the bauhinia flag flying more often on the international stage.
