Tokyo 2020: Hurdler Vera Lui has Olympics qualification in her grasp
- Lui wins first race after winter training camp with personal best in 60 metre hurdles
- She qualifies for February’s Asian Indoor Championships where she aims to improve her world ranking
Hurdler Vera Lui Lai-yiu began the new year campaign with a bang, setting a personal best in the women’s 60 metre hurdles on Sunday and putting Tokyo Olympics qualification firmly in her sights.
Hong Kong’s top hurdler won the event in 8.32 seconds at the 2020 Hong Kong Athletics Preseason Trial 1 at Wan Chai Sports Ground, booking a berth at next month’s Asian Indoor Championships in Hangzhou, China, in February.
“I felt great after the winter training camp and I am happy to set a personal best at the beginning of the year,” she said. “My previous best was 8.41 seconds when I won the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games in Turkmenistan.
“I have set two major targets for the year: winning a berth to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and breaking the long-standing Hong Kong record in the 100 metre hurdles.”
So far, only 21 women have run inside the Tokyo Games’ 100 metre hurdles qualification standard of 12.84 seconds, about half of the quota of 40 available.