Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong’s Raena Leung on her showjumping career and chasing an Olympic spot
- The 32-year-old is still in the race to qualify for the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympics
- Leung, who got into riding at the age of six, said the sport has taught her many life lessons along the way
Hong Kong show jumper and Tokyo 2020 Olympic hopeful Raena Leung Hou-ling isn’t sure where her love of riding came from, but a photo album she unearthed recently offers some clues.
“I found some old photos and in them I would sit on things like a suitcase and I would like to be led around on it,” said the 32-year-old with a chuckle. “Or I had a little scooter and I would tie my dog to it and have him pull me. So I don’t know where those ideas came from, but looking back on my childhood, it’s going to sound weird but I seemed to like sitting on things and being pulled around.”
Leung, still in the hunt for one last Hong Kong spot at Tokyo 2020 – pushed to 2021 – said a school fair across the street of a family household in Kowloon piqued her interest in show jumping and equestrianism.
“They had pony rides going on, so my mum thinks that’s what inspired me. So I started asking her for lessons.”
To ride ponies in Hong Kong at that time, however, you had to be either six years old or weigh 27 kilograms. Once Leung met the requirements, she said there was no turning back, even when her first excursion turned out to be a disaster.