Tokyo 2020: windsurfer Hayley Chan sails her way back from career-ending ‘decision day’ for another Olympic challenge

Hayley Chan Hei-man was about to quit windsurfing after the shock of missing the 2016 Rio Games but she changed her mindset thanks to a chat with her secondary school teacher and is now preparing for another Olympic challenge in Tokyo this summer.

The 29-year-old Chan easily defeated fellow teammate Ngai Wai-yan in a two-round Tokyo Olympics internal selection that ended a fortnight ago when she finished 10th at the RS: X World Championships in Sorrento, Australia, to become the sole representative for Hong Kong. In sailing, only one athlete is allowed to represent the class at the Olympics.

But it was a different story four years ago when she surprisingly lost the Rio Games spot to Sonia Lo Sin-lam in the same selection, despite her dominance in the boardsailing event.

“I was pondering my sporting future after such a big defeat, with going back to school as one of the options,” she said. “And it was the last day that I had to respond to my coach if I would like to continue. Then, fortunately, I met one of my secondary schoolteachers and her words totally changed me.”

Since her early days, Chan was hailed a star of the future in the sport that has won Hong Kong the only gold medal at the Olympic Games. She captured a silver medal at the 2008 junior world championships, a result that not even Olympic gold medallist Lee Lai-shan could achieve.