Tokyo 2020: sailor Stephanie Norton makes history for Hong Kong with Olympic place but Games heartbreak for two teams

Sailor Stephanie Norton made it a double celebration for Hong Kong with her third place at the 2021 Mussanah Open Championship in Oman – sealing her place at the Tokyo Olympics and strengthening sailing’s top-tier status at the Sports Institute.

The 20-year-old Norton became the first women’s dinghy sailor from Hong Kong to reach the Olympics via a competitive route since stricter qualification rules were implemented after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Olympic qualification was also a key requirement for sailing to continue being part of the HKSI programme, with its status under threat because of poor results since 2014.

There was heartbreak, though, for two Hong Kong teams after they finished second in their categories to miss out on Olympic qualification after some dominant performances on the water.

“I’m very proud of Hong Kong’s performance at this competition,” said Tong Yui-shing, a 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist who recently stepped down as chief of the Hong Kong Sailing Federation and played a part in grooming talented youngsters such as Norton.

“It’s an exciting time. Unfortunately, for the first four or so years since we became tier-A, we did not get the results so this was an important result for Stephanie. Basically our plan worked and we have two more years at the Sports Institute.”

Norton finished third in the Laser Radial Class in Oman with 47 penalty points, 17 points behind India’s second-placed Nethra Kumanan (30 points), with champion Emma Savelon, of the Netherlands, finishing on 29. Kumanan and Norton qualified for the Olympics as the best two Asian sailors.