Editorial

Games success brings city together with a sense of patriotic pride

Name: Tokyo 2020 week one highlights – and which Olympic events could deliver more medals for Hong Kong
Uploaded: 2021-07-31T14:36:29.000Z
Duration: 7 min
Description: Tokyo 2020 week one highlights – and which Olympic events could deliver more medals for Hong Kong

The enthusiasm generated by Siobhan Haughey and Edgar Cheung Ka-long is evidence that a Hong Kong sense of separate identity prevails under the surface of uncertainty amid Beijing’s political and security crackdown

2-MIN READ2-MIN

People watch a live broadcast of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, on July 30, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE

SCMP Editorial

Editorials represent the views of the South China Morning Post on the issues of the day.

Published: 10:36pm, 31 Jul 2021Updated: 10:36pm, 31 Jul 2021

Hongkongers have not had much to bring them together over the past two years. Divisive civil unrest that led to imposition of the national security law, followed by social distancing to combat the coronavirus, hardly set the tone for spontaneous public celebrations of shared feelings. The Tokyo Olympic Games loomed as a distraction that would make little difference. After all Hong Kong had won only a gold, silver and bronze apiece in 25 years.

No one predicted another gold medal – for fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long in the individual foil event – or that within days Hong Kong would achieve its biggest-ever medal haul, thanks to silver-medal-winning performances by swimming sensation Siobhan Haughey in the 200-metre and 100-metre women’s freestyle finals.

If Cheung’s gold surprised people who stopped to watch on the big screens in shopping malls, 23-year-old Haughey’s silvers electrified crowds that had gathered in anticipation, unmindful of social distancing, after hopes were raised by her record-breaking qualifying swims.

The patriotic pride and enthusiasm were evidence that a Hong Kong sense of separate identity prevails under the surface of uncertainty amid Beijing’s political and security crackdown on the city. It is ironic that sport, that so often runs a distant second in this city to academic study and careers, should bring it to the surface.

07:00

Tokyo 2020 week one highlights – and which Olympic events could deliver more medals for Hong Kong

Cheung’s gold medal, like Lee Lai-shan’s victory in windsurfing at Atlanta in 1996, introduced Hongkongers to a non-mainstream sport with which few would be familiar. Haughey’s unprecedented double-medal haul tapped into the popularity of swimming in Hong Kong. She dismissed claims that, despite Cheung’s gold, two podium finishes in the intensely competitive pool made her the city’s greatest Olympian. That will not deter accolades like “queen of the pool”.