Tears of joy for Hong Kong track cyclist Leung Bo-yee after ‘miracle’ of qualifying for Tokyo Games madison race
- The Hong Kong men’s and women’s madison teams realise they have qualified after UCI releases adjusted ranking list
- Both teams felt they had not done enough at last week’s Berlin World Championships to make the Olympic grade
Cyclist Leung Bo-yee and partner Pang Yao were already looking ahead to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, with the Hong Kong madison pair thinking their 14th place at the Berlin World Track Cycling Championships was not good enough for Tokyo.
But three days after the event, world governing body UCI released its updated ranking list. And that was when Leung witnessed a “miracle”.
Tears started flowing as Leung realised she would be going to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games after the Hong Kong pair finished above Asian rivals Japan and China.
“We knew before the race that we needed a very good result in Berlin if we wanted to get the ticket to Tokyo,” said Leung, who returned to Hong Kong on Thursday from their training base in Switzerland for a short break. “And so when the race was over, I immediately thought about the 2024 Paris Games. I was relieved and thankful that all these tough qualification days over the past two years were all over.”
“When I checked the list before returning to Hong Kong, I suddenly found we were in 14th position in the final qualification rankings, which means we should be able to qualify. There were tears immediately rolling out from my eyes and I immediately texted the good news to my sister Wing-yee because I will make my Olympic debut this summer,” said 26-year-old Leung, who was the first Asian junior road race champion for Hong Kong when she won the title in Thailand in 2011.
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“It’s just a miracle. We were in a difficult position because we did not perform well in the first part of the campaign, including the 2019 World Championships but we finally made it!”
Her younger sister, Wing-yee, is also a member of the Hong Kong team who won a bronze medal in the road race time trial at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Their qualification for the Olympics was helped by a new calculation system. The UCI added more than 800 points to their 2019 World Championships result when they finished 15th but the extra points did not materialise until Wednesday.
Leung was unaware of the new tally until male rider Leung Chun-wing informed her of the good news because the men’s madison pair also benefited from the addition of extra points.
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For the men, the qualification also came as a pleasant surprise, especially after they failed to finish their race in Berlin on Sunday.
“I thought Ireland had overtaken us with a 11th-place finish in Berlin while we were 17th,” said Leung Chun-wing, who represented Hong Kong in the men’s omnium at the 2016 Rio Games. “In fact, the Ireland social media had interviews with their two riders talking about Olympic qualification. But then some Dutch riders informed me the final ranking list had been released and Hong Kong are just in front of the Irish team.”
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Hong Kong collected 6,460 points from 10 qualifying rounds and remain in 15th place after the final round in Berlin while Ireland trailed with 6,430 points. Both the Hong Kong men’s and women’s teams occupy the final qualifying berths.
“It’s like lost and found,” Leung Chun-wing said. “I don’t know how to describe my feelings but it’s just wonderful.”
The Hong Kong Cycling Association said they were still awaiting final confirmation from the UCI but remained confident the two madison teams can join the women’s sprint and keirin pair of Sarah Lee Wai-sze and Jessica Lee Hoi-yan at the Tokyo Olympics.
