Christy Yiu to skip Hong Kong Marathon to focus on securing Tokyo Olympic spot
- Marathon runner targets December’s Asian Championship
- Yiu will race in 10k or half-marathon at Hong Kong event
Distance runner Christy Yiu Kit-ching will skip next year’s Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon to focus on her Tokyo Olympics qualification campaign.
Yiu, who set a Hong Kong record of two hours, 34 minutes and seven seconds at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia two months ago, is still searching for a second marathon result to ensure her appearance in Tokyo next year.
It was Yiu’s first official marathon since her debut over the distance at the 2016 Rio Games.
The 31-year-old still ranks outside the top 300 in the qualifiers after the Australian result and points she scored in a half-marathon in Japan in March. There will be a quota of 80 runners for the women’s marathon in the Tokyo Games next year, but each nation is allowed to send a maximum of two runners.
“The half marathon has a lower weighting in the qualifiers and therefore I need another marathon result to bolster my overall ranking,” said Yiu, who won the 5,000 metres at the 2019 Asics Hong Kong Series 4 on Sunday at the Wan Chai Sports Ground in 17:08.43 – her record at the venue.
“My plan is to get a good result in the Asian championship in December to ensure my Olympic participation. If not, I will have to race again in the Seoul Marathon next April.