Faster, Higher, Stronger | Tokyo Olympics: how San San laid foundations for Cheung Ka-long’s future Hong Kong glory
- Windsurfer San San was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, while Cheung is a product of programme inspired by her success
- Cheung’s fencing gold medal proves Hong Kong has a development system that works, though it is far from perfect
One was a freak talent who emerged raw and brash from the beaches of Cheung Chau to gatecrash the system and change it forever. The other is a product of the very system that, 25 years earlier, was injected with a much-needed dose of legitimacy.
First, there are the obvious things: San San’s took place during British colonial rule in which God Save the Queen was played during the medal ceremony in Savannah on the Georgia coast, while Cheung’s was the first time the China national anthem, March of the Volunteers, was played on behalf of a Hong Kong athlete at the Olympics.
Lee’s was the first medal of any colour for a Hong Kong athlete at the Olympics since their debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games. Cheung’s was the city’s fourth, with table tennis men’s doubles pair Ko Lai-chak and Li Ching winning silver in Athens 2004 and track cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze taking keirin bronze in London 2012.
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In addition, San San’s gold was largely expected because she was a previous world champion – Hong Kong’s first in an Olympic sport – while Cheung, even though he has an impressive list of achievements on the international stage, was ranked 19th going into the Tokyo Games.