Hong Kong teens soar to success as competitive rope skipping takes off

Backflips, breakdancing, dynamic beats and speed records. If you haven’t set foot inside a school gymnasium lately, you might be surprised to learn that these are not scenes from a dance battle, but the reality of competitive rope skipping. “This year, I wanted to challenge myself with a very upbeat song to push my speed and try new tricks, so I picked a J-pop track,” says Kaylie Wong, a rising star of Hong Kong’s rope skipping scene who’s been training since the age of seven. In 2023 and 2025, she won junior world champion titles, and this year, aged 16, she’s moving up to the senior division. Her passion for the sport shows no signs of slowing down. “I already train four days a week, around three hours per session,” says Kaylie. “I use lunchtime at school to do my revision, and I do my homework after my evening training. Changing league is going to be more challenging, but I’m not scared.” Her enthusiasm reflects a broader trend across Hong Kong schools. Participation in interschool skipping rope has more than doubled, leaping from 1,168 students in 2023 to 2,469 in 2026 – a 111.4 per cent increase in three years. “Stopping rope skipping isn’t an option for me,” says Kaylie. “I love the speed, the freestyle, being able to express myself and also to be in a team. There are so many possibilities to be lived, it’s never boring.” Alongside Japan and China, Hong Kong has emerged as a leader in the global rope skipping movement, with several world records and world champions like Cheung Pak-hung and Timothy Ho to look up to. Through social media, these athletes have made the sport accessible, fun and trendy – a far cry from the rhythmic playground games of the past. I love the speed, the freestyle, being able to express myself and also to be in a team. There are so many possibilities to be lived Kaylie Wong Today, competitive rope skipping is a sport where athletes combine lightning-fast footwork with acrobatic tricks, all set to music. “Instagram and YouTube are great sources of inspiration for new tricks,” confirms Kaylie, who uses social media to scout the competition, find new music and see the level of competition abroad. “This generation has completely embraced Instagram and TikTok as their training ground,” says Tina Wong, chairperson of the Hong Kong Rope Skipping Association, China. “We call it the YouTube Dance Academy, because that’s where they go to learn, get inspired, and push each other to new heights.” These new heights include the Paris Olympic Games, where some of the city’s athletes took part in demonstrations of rope skipping as an official Observer Sport, and the 2025 World Championships in Kawasaki, Japan, the largest in history, with over 2,600 athletes from 34 countries and territories. There, Hong Kong brought home seven gold, five silver and 12 bronze medals, as well as breaking three world records. On top of social media, Wong puts the sport’s success in Hong Kong down to two factors: accessibility and opportunity. “First, it requires virtually no equipment, no space. There’s barely an entry barrier,” she explains. “You don’t need specific gear that your kids will outgrow in a year. You just need a rope that costs HK$40.” The competition structure is another key attraction for Hong Kong’s pragmatic education system. “There are so many categories to compete in, so many opportunities to get medals, trophies and even world records,” says Wong. “It works very well with the Hong Kong education system.” Schools have indeed been quick to support the Hong Kong Rope Skipping Association in its mission to nurture that talent. The numbers speak for themselves: between 2023 and 2026, the number of schools with official rope skipping teams grew by 75.7 per cent, jumping from 70 to 123. “Our Hong Kong interschool competition now takes five weekends to run because there are just so many participants,” says Wong. The international governing body has taken note. For the first time ever, the 2027 World Championships will feature a dedicated International School Sport Federation (ISF) category, formally welcoming school teams onto the global stage. “This is massive for us,” says Wong. “It validates what we’ve been building for years: that school-level rope skipping is serious sport – and Hong Kong is leading the way.” Yet for all the medals, world records and international recognition, the true impact of rope skipping lies in what it teaches young people beyond the competition floor. “Rope skipping really taught me perseverance, to not give up easily,” says Kaylie, reflectively. “It showed me that I can overcome challenges, and I channel this feeling when I’m facing problems in academics, in interpersonal relationships, and more.” Her parents have witnessed this transformation first-hand. “Rope skipping really impacted how Kaylie endures hardships,” says her father, Michael Wong. “Given her busy schedule, she also got a lot of self-discipline and time-management skills from it.” Kaylie’s mother, Ceci Chan, is also very supportive – she left her job at an electronics company to co-found the Fever Jump Rope training centre, alongside Kaylie’s coach Kurt Wong. It now has around 40 students. “We hadn’t foreseen any championships or awards,” explains Chan. “We were just excited for her to try a sport and build a community. But now, we truly believe in Kaylie and in this sport’s potential, and we want to be part of its growth.” As Kaylie prepares for her next challenge at the Asian Championship, she knows what matters most. “I hope I can break my personal record,” she says. “And have more fun on stage.”

Hong Kong teens soar to success as competitive rope skipping takes off

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}No longer just a playground game, the sport is seeing a surge in school participation, with local athletes like Kaylie Wong securing global titles

No longer just a playground game, the sport is seeing a surge in school participation, with local athletes like Kaylie Wong securing global titles