Vera Lui wins the women’s 60m hurdles in a preseason trial to qualify for the Asian Indoor Championships. Photo: Dickson Lee
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https://scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3049309/coronavirus-outbreak-biggest-barrier-hong-kong-hurdler-vera-luis Hong Kong
Coronavirus outbreak biggest barrier to Hong Kong hurdler Vera Lui’s Olympic dream
- Lui has one fewer chance to boost her world ranking after next week’s Asian Indoor Championships cancelled because of coronavirus outbreak
- The next event will be in Australia in March but travel may not be possible if Hong Kong situation does not improve
Vera Lui trains at the HKSI gymnasium with a mask on her face. Photo: Vera Lui
The biggest barrier to hurdler Vera Lui Lai-yiu’s dream of clinching an Olympic Games berth may not come on the track but in the shape of the coronavirus.
The 25-year-old was scheduled to race in the Asian Indoor Championships in Hangzhou next week but the continental event was called off because of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Lui was aiming for a good position in the East China city to boost her world ranking, one of the two ways to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.
“We had high hopes in the event as regional competitions offer higher ranking points without too many quality athletes,” said Lui. “The chance is gone now and we have to look for other competitions for the same purpose. The outbreak of coronavirus makes things difficult. Perhaps soon we will not be allowed to travel to other countries if the situation deteriorates. No one knows.”
Lui said the next event in which she could compete for ranking points would be a world continental tour silver event – the Queensland Track Classic in Brisbane, but it will not be held until March 20. There will also be two gold events in the region, one in Nanjing on May 2, followed by another one in Tokyo a week later. Both require a higher standard for entry.
“We are still waiting for confirmation of the Brisbane event and I am a bit worried as we may not be allowed to travel to Australia by that time if the situation escalates in Hong Kong,” she said. “We are considering training options outside Hong Kong to avoid all these problems but we need to secure sufficient funding as we don’t know how long we have to spend on overseas training. A lot of things have to be sorted out.”
Lui said she is now wearing a mask when training at the gymnasium inside the Sports Institute. “There are a lot of people there for training and the room is using central ventilation system which means it may spread the virus if someone contract the virus. Although I found it a bit more difficult to breathe with the mask, I can’t afford putting my health at risk.”
Vera Lui celebrates in Jakarta as the first female track and field athlete from Hong Kong to win an Asian Games medal. Photo: Xinhua
With a quota of 40 in the women’s 100 metre hurdles and a maximum of three athletes from one nation allowed for the Olympic Games, Lui, with a world ranking of 55, is still in contention for a place in Tokyo. The IAAF expects half of the Olympic entries will come from those who reach the qualification mark of 12.84 seconds with another half through the world ranking system.
Her coach, Tang Hon-sing, said they planned to go to Australia in early March for training once Lui’s entry is confirmed. They also hope to go to Europe for a series of other silver events to boost the hurdler’s world ranking.
Vera Lui and coach Tang Hon-sing after a training session at the Sports Institute. Photo: Chan Kin-wa
The Amateur Athletic Association would support Lui for overseas training camps, provided the athlete could identify proper venues and coordinate well with the organiser, according to its senior vice-chairman, Simon Yeung Sai-mo.