Tokyo 2020: Olympics postponement gives veteran cyclist Sarah Lee more time to prepare

Sarah Lee Wai-sze played down the impact of pushing back the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to next year, although the star cyclist, one of Hong Kong’s few world-class athletes, will turn 34 in May 2021.

Now under self isolation in a hotel in Tseung Kwan O after returning from Switzerland earlier this month, Lee was relieved after the decision was made on Tuesday night when the International Olympic Committee agreed to postpone the Games to the summer of 2021 at the latest.

“I feel much easier as I can have more time to prepare for the Games,” she said. “Some of the events have been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and once the epidemic is under control, I think there should be more events to be held for the riders as part of their build-up to the Olympics.”

Lee, a responsible role model, is also concerned about the battle against the coronavirus in Hong Kong. “I am still worrying about the current epidemic development in the community and would ask the Hong Kong people to take the battle seriously so we can work together to defend the city.”

Lee and her fellow Hong Kong team members were supposed to take part in the track cycling test event in Izu next month, but that event has also been cancelled. Track cycling will take place in the velodrome in Izu Peninsula, a two-hour drive from Tokyo to the southwest.

While Lee will be a year older come next summer, some young medal hopefuls will benefit from the year delay, including fencers Vivian Kong Man-wai and Ryan Choi Chun-yin, gymnast Shek Wai-hung and table tennis player Doo Hoi-kem.

Kong, the 2019 year-end world number one in the women’s epee, is struggling to regain top form after suffering a second cruciate ligament injury in two years at the last world championships. Her world ranking has now dropped to seven.Kong will have more time for recuperation before trying to regain medal-winning form.

Choi, 22, had little expectation for Tokyo as it will be his maiden Olympics. But the new schedule has changed his mindset. “I used to think it’s the first time I will compete in the Olympics, and I am not yet one of the strongest in the world,” said the world number 12, the highest from Hong Kong.

“But now I have one more year to prepare. I will try my best to become one of the strongest in the world and my Olympic goal is to win a medal in the individual event.”

Gymnast Shek has been using two jumps of both high difficulty of 6.0 in the men’s vault. At the 2019 world championships in Stuttgart, he was unable to deliver in the first jump and only came seventh out of the eight competitors in the final. With more time allowed for the Games, Shek can better hone his performance.

Doo Hoi-kem and her partner, Wong Chun-ting, will also have more time to sharpen their skills in the mixed doubles, a newly added medal programme to the Olympics.

They have been doing well on the world tour, but still need to raise the bar against the powerhouse combinations from China and hosts Japan. Wong has also been suffering from an ankle injury for some time.