Live | 2020 Olympics: Cheung Ka-long wins historic gold medal – day three as it happened

Cheung Ka-long beats Daniele Garozzo 15-11 in the final of the men’s individual foil to win gold medal
It’s the first medal Hong Kong has won in fencing, and only the city’s second gold ever

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

SCMP Sport

Published: 9:00am, 26 Jul 2021

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What a day, what a result, what an achievement. Take a bow Cheung Ka-long, you are an Olympic champion.

Cheung’s incredible run in this year's event saw him beat some of the best in the world, now, he is the best.

It has been a dramatic day for Cheung, who claimed his spot in the quarter-finals with a sensational defeat of top seed Alessio Foconi of Italy, and then battled back from 10-14 down to win 15-14 against Russian Kirill Borodachevi to book his place in the final four. His semi-final victory over Alexander Choupenitch will live long in the memory.

If winning a gold medal wasn’t enough to change your life, Cheung has also earned HK$5 million (US$640,000) in prize money from a government incentive scheme. In addition, the MTR Corporation, the city’s rail operator, has announced he will receive free rides for life. The rest of the Hong Kong delegation have been awarded free passes for a year.

Reporting by Paul Ryding and Jonathan White (in Tokyo), Patrick Blennerhassett, Josh Ball, Chan Kin-wa, Tom Biddington, Nazvi Careem, Nick Atkin, Andrew McNicol and Ngai Mimosa.