The next Sarah Lee? Vivian Ma wins women’s sprint at National Championships
Teenager only returned to the national senior squad four months ago but showed her potential by being crowned the city’s best sprinter in Tseung Kwan O
Youngster Vivian Ma Wing-yu didn’t know how she would turn out after becoming a full-time cyclist four months ago. Apparently she has turned out just fine after giving early indications that she could become the next Sarah Lee Wai-sze on the velodrome, although she doesn’t like to admit it.
The 19-year-old won the women’s sprint at the National Championships to enhance her growing reputation, while boosting her confidence as well for next month’s UCI Track World Championships at the same venue, where she impressed a sparse crowd at the Tseung Kwan O velodrome.
At last month’s Asian Championships, Ma and Lee teamed up together to win silver at the women’s team sprint, her first major international event after returning to the Hong Kong squad last November.
Now, she’s enjoying the fruits of her labour as she was officially declared the national champion in women’s sprint, an honour that would usually be bestow to Lee, who this year decided to skip the event to focus on training for the Worlds.
“I would consider myself very lucky. It has been just wonderful these six months,” said Ma, who beat compatriot Li Yin-yin, also 19, in the women’s sprint final on Saturday. “I enjoy being Sarah Lee’s partner in the team sprint as she is a great athlete, one of the world’s best but of course the pressure also comes with it.