2020 Olympics one-year countdown: Hong Kong’s top medal hopes for Tokyo Games

With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games now just 12 months away, we thought it would be a good time to check on the progress of Hong Kong’s leading hopes for Japan. Currently, Hong Kong has just one athlete with their ticket to Tokyo stamped (Siobhan Haughey booked her spot earlier this year), but with qualification periods ongoing, we’re hopeful of a few more of Hong Kong’s athletes making the grade and appearing in Tokyo. We’ve listed six of Hong Kong’s brightest Olympic hopes that we expect to comfortably qualify for 2020. A lot can change in 12 months and this list could look very different a few weeks out from the Games, but it’s a fair indicator of the current state of play. Not all of them are expected to medal in Tokyo – Hong Kong has only ever won three Olympic medals, don’t forget – but these are the pick of our crop and, in our opinion, represent the city’s best hopes of adding to its modest tally of Olympic medals. Sarah Lee Wai-sze Track Cycling Age: 32 Events: women’s sprint and keirin World ranking: keirin 1; sprint 2 Recent best performances: 2019 world championships sprint and keirin gold medallist. Previous Olympic experience: London 2012 (bronze medal in the keirin), Rio 2016 Sarah Lee is Hong Kong’s best medal hope considering her recent form and her strong performances in 2019. She also enjoys special status as Hong Kong sport’s elder stateswoman because of her advanced years and Olympic pedigree. If she can maintain her current form for the next year, she will, again, be the city’s best hope of a medal. Siobhan Haughey Swimming Age: 21 Events: women’s 100m and 200m freestyle Current world ranking: 100m freestyle 9; 200m freestyle 6 Recent best performances: 100m and 200m freestyle champion at 2019 Mare Nostrum, Monaco. Previous Olympic experience: Rio 2016 Siobhan Haughey is based in the US, where she will remain in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. That’s probably the best place for her to be as she prepares a serious assault on the podium in Tokyo. The youngster has taken great strides in the last 12 months after shaking off an injury and is certainly a consideration for a medal in her pet events. She is now signed with a professional swim team in the US. The ongoing world championships in Gwangju should give a good gauge of her Olympic hopes. Vivian Kong Man-wai Fencing Age: 25 Event: women’s épée World ranking: 1 Recent best performances: 2019 World Cup series gold medals in Havana and Barcelona. Previous Olympic experience: Rio 2016 Vivian Kong is a fast-improving fencer and in 2019 became the first ever world number one from Hong Kong in her sport. She recently clinched bronze at the fencing world championships in Budapest, which boosted her back to being world’s number 1 fencer. She has been inconsistent at times, and, if she can hold up mentally over the coming year, is a definite medal prospect in Tokyo. Grace Lau Mo-sheung Karate Age: 27 Event: women’s kata World ranking: 4 Recent best performance: 2018 world championships bronze medal. 2018 Asian Games bronze medal. 2019 East Asian Karate Championships gold medal. Previous Olympic experience: none Grace Lau may well became the second Hong Kong athlete to make the Olympic grade in the coming weeks as she continues to perform well on the qualification circuit, and her Asian dominance in recent months would surely mean she is in with a shout at the 2020 Games. The 27-year-old is the reigning world championships bronze medallist, and added a third East Asian Karate Championships individual kata gold medal to her collection on home soil in May. Shek Wai-hung Gymnastics Age: 27 Event: men’s vault World ranking: N/A Recent best performances: vault champion at 2019 World Challenge Cup series in Croatia and Slovenia. Previous Olympic experience: London 2012 A dark horse, Shek Wai-hung is certainly capable of an upset on the big stage, and the two-time Asian Games champion is eyeing a place at Tokyo 2020. An expert at upsetting the odds, Shek has hit on some fine form this campaign and is well able to compete at Olympic level. He defeated the Olympic champion at 2012’s Asian Games as proof that he can hang in at the elite level, and he would have made the Olympics in 2016 were it not for a serious shoulder injury. Cheung Ka-long Fencing Age: 22 Event: men’s foil World ranking: 7 Recent best performance: silver medal at 2019 Asian championships. Previous Olympic experience: Rio 2016. Unpredictable, both in terms of his performances and his personality, it’s difficult to know which Cheung will turn up when it matters most. His world ranking of seven proves he has the ability to compete among the world’s elite, but a disappointing 18th-place finish at the recently concluded world championships in Budapest is testament to his inconsistency. If he can get his mindset right for Tokyo, Cheung definitely has the technique to challenge for the podium. Additional research by Chan Kin-wa.

2020 Olympics one-year countdown: Hong Kong’s top medal hopes for Tokyo Games

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Hong Kong has a total of three Olympic medals going into the Tokyo Games Sarah Lee again carries the city’s best medal hopes on her shoulders

Sarah Lee Wai-sze

Track Cycling

Hong Kong has a total of three Olympic medals going into the Tokyo Games

Sarah Lee again carries the city’s best medal hopes on her shoulders