Christy Yiu racks up the miles as she gains pace on golden goal

A year ago, Christy Yiu Kit-ching was more than happy with her life as a qualified nurse and as Hong Kong's leading female distance runner. Promoting good health and learning how different medicines help to fight disease and cure illness fulfilled her professional life, while running fast and breaking records drove the 26-year-old to excel in athletics.

And then along came Shinetsu Murao.

Yiu became part of the distance running squad established by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, for which Japanese coach Murao was hired as a consultant to bring the athletes up to a higher level in Asia, and hopefully beyond.

Yiu quickly became the stand-out athlete and is now being groomed for the marathon at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Yiu says she will be happy to run 2:50 on the undulating, wind-exposed course that offers little support from spectators or runners of a comparable speed. However, Murao is confident she can run much faster.