Long-distance runner Christy Yiu Kit-ching’s hopes of qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games suffered a setback after injury forced her to pull out of Sunday’s Asian Marathon Championships. Officials, though, remain upbeat about her chances of running for Hong Kong at the Olympics despite a bone stress problem on the second metatarsal of her right foot stopping her from competing in neighbouring Dongguan, China. “She wants to achieve another good result to boost her world ranking but now she will have to wait a bit longer,” said Simon Yeung Sai-mo, senior vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association. “She has only raced once during the qualification campaign but we believe Yiu is a quality runner and has the ability to make it. “She will now have to discuss with her coach what her next target will be but fortunately there is no bone fracture and she should be fine to run again soon.” Yiu set a Hong Kong record at the Gold Coast marathon in Australia this summer – her first race after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games – when she clocked two hours, 34 minutes and seven seconds to finish sixth. She took more than a minute off the old mark set by Chan Man-yee in 2004. Last month, she bettered her own half-marathon Hong Kong record by five seconds, clocking 1:12:52 in Setagaya, Tokyo. She was then in Kagoshima for a training camp to prepare for the Asian championships. Yiu discussed her setback on a social media post, saying “never let the vicious cycle of a setback put you down for so long. Work with the negatives to make a better future”. The Tokyo Games will feature 80 marathon runners, with a maximum of three from one country – each of whom needs to clock 2:29:30 to qualify. However, it is expected that half of the qualifiers will take the starting line because of rankings, given the difficult qualifying time. Hong Kong will now send a five-member squad of three men and two women to the regional championships. Hong Kong Marathon: Christy Yiu makes stunning return from pregnancy hiatus in half marathon The men’s team features Wan Cheuk-hei, Chow Hon-nip and Ngai Kang while the women’s team will have two runners – Vut Tsz-ying and Wong Tsz-yan. Wong recently set a personal best 2:41:09 in the Berlin Marathon and can join her male counterpart, Wong Wan-chun, as an elite athlete with the Sports Institute and receive full support. Wong broke the Hong Kong record over the weekend when he clocked 2:20:58 in Hofu, Japan, breaking Paul Spowage’s 35-year-old mark of 2:21:10 set in London.