Tokyo Games: Karate exponent Lee Ka-wai to take part in Paris qualifiers – ‘this will be my last chance for the Olympics’
- Lee will compete in a Paris qualifying tournament 15 months after he broke his ribs in competition in the French capital
- His injuries forced him to stay in Hong Kong for treatment while his Hong Kong teammates travelled to Europe for training but caught Covid-19 last year
When karate exponent Jimmy Lee Ka-wai returns to Paris in June, he will have only one target and that is to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
It was 15 months ago when the 32-year-old veteran last competed in the French capital in a Premier League karate tournament, which also happened to be the Hong Kong star’s last event since all major international events came to a grinding halt because of the pandemic soon after that.
“I don’t know if it was lucky or unlucky in my last campaign in Paris,” said Lee, a silver medallist at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon and a bronze medallist in Guangzhou four years ago. “I broke one of my ribs in the tournament and was forced to return home to Hong Kong. I had to stay home for treatment followed by rehabilitation while my fellow teammates soon left Hong Kong again for a training camp in Europe fearing the coronavirus might stop them from taking part in the Olympic qualification tournament.
“And we all know what happened to the team when they were forced to return to Hong Kong as the pandemic started to hit Europe hard.”
Three of the players who returned from France in March last year were infected by Covid-19. A coach who led the squad was also infected. Lee Chun-ho was the first athlete to have tested positive, followed by fellow teammates Tsang Tsang Yee-ting and Chau Ka-him. Frenchman Rida Bel-Lahsen, one of the kumite coaches, was the fourth one to be hit by Covid-19. Altogether four members of the squad out of five were infected.