Opinion | Left Field: Shek Wai-hung deserves top accolade for 2014
Gymnast showed courage and skill in lifting himself from London mockery and winning gold at the Incheon Asian Games
In an Asian Games year there is no dearth of success stories and 2014 provided plenty for Hong Kong who returned from Incheon with a bag full of medals. Our 472-strong squad of athletes was the biggest sent to the quadrennial event, simply owing to the Hong Kong Olympic Committee deciding it would give team sports their opportunity.
As a result, 10 team sports took part but only one returned with a medal, rugby sevens, which didn't disappoint by claiming the silver. As for the other nine team sports, they gained some exposure, although the men's cricket team were disappointed they didn't win a medal having reached the last four.
For two years, he was haunted by his humiliation in London but sheer courage and determination kept him true to his faith in gymnastics
Yet, a haul of 42 medals - six gold, 12 silver and 24 bronze - was uplifting because Hong Kong finished 13th of the 37 countries and territories on the medal table.
It might have been fewer golds and silvers than in Guangzhou four years ago (eight golds and 15 silvers), but that was offset by the fact more sports lifted their performance as shown by gymnastics and rowing, which won gold medals for the first time at the Asian Games.
Four of the other gold medals came from cycling (two) and windsurfing (two), which have always produced top results, but the gold medal won by Shek Wai-hung in the men's vault and that of sculler Lok Kwan-hoi was extra special. The 23-year-old Shek's surprise victory was straight out of a fairy tale. Having fallen on his backside at the 2012 London Olympics, he persevered and came up trumps when defeating reigning Olympic and world champion Yang Hak-seon, of South Korea. Not only did he defeat the hometown hero, Shek also single-handedly saved his sport from exile at the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
