‘Look beyond just medals’: Hong Kong Olympic chief Kenneth Fok defends athletes’ performance at Rio Games

Chef de mission Kenneth Fok Kai-kong urged Hong Kong people to avoid looking at Olympic medals as the be all and end all of sporting achievement, saying it is impossible to put a value on the intangible benefits of our athletes at international events.

Addressing those who have criticised Hong Kong’s failure to win a medal at the Rio Games, Fok said he was “satisfied” with their performances, even though best hope Sarah Lee Wai-sze was unable to at least repeat her track cycling bronze medal from London 2012.

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“I’m personally very satisfied,” said Fok. “Obviously, we came with high hopes and we know that Sarah had the ability because on the international stage – she has won world championships, so I’ll be lying to say we are not disappointed.

“I still feel a splinter [in my heart] because she fell [in the keirin race] but that’s competition and overall I hope we can see beyond the medals.

“Of course, medals are important no doubt, but I hope Hong Kong people and sports fans can see beyond that.

“A lot of these athletes achieved their personal bests – [fencer] Vivian Kong [Man-wai] went into the top 16 [she finished 11th], which no Hong Kong athlete has done before.