UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup: Hong Kong’s Sarah Lee bags gold in all-Asian sprint finals
- The 34-year-old Olympic medal hopeful out-strategised Japanese opponent in final after soaring through prelims
- Lee said she was ‘very confident’ in a podium finish and is ‘getting back to my usual shape’
Hong Kong’s Sarah Lee Wai-sze proved she is still world-class after a scintillating gold medal performance in the women’s sprint at the inaugural UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup at the Hong Kong Velodrome on Friday.
With Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in attendance, Lee edged Yuka Kobayashi out in a best of three – clocking 11.534 and 11.609 seconds to lead two races – in a tense tactical duel.
“Actually I was very confident in finishing top three but Japan has improved a lot in a year, so I’m very satisfied to have finished first,” she said in a post-race virtual interview.
“My physical [strength] is the roughly the same as always. Looking at my quarter and semi final times, I kept at the 11.20 seconds mark and let go a little when I saw the other competitors couldn’t catch up. I’m getting back to my usual shape. There was high competition but I still truly believed that I could do it by the semis.
“Probably because last year I spent three months in the Hong Kong Sports Institute so I’m used to it all [the hygiene protocol]. There are some inconveniences, like when taking the lift you have to wait for the previous nations’ team to go up, then the cleaners come in, so you lose a bit of rest time. But it’s doable and I appreciate all the tough work the workers had to put in.
Lee, a 2012 London Olympic Games bronze medallist, looks for a potential double should she perform at the women’s keirin event in what is her final event on Sunday. She said she hoped to also finish first but it will be a bigger challenge than the sprint. She and Jessica Lee Hoi-yan will be seeking valuable track time ahead of their Tokyo Games campaign in just over two months.
In the men’s category, To Cheuk-hei made the most of his razor-thin qualification in the 1km time trial earlier in the day to finish eighth, just 0.041 seconds off German rival Marco Mathis. Though he had to pull out of the men’s scratch due to bike issues, the result will give the 21-year-old some confidence in the individual sprint and keirin this weekend.
New teammate Yeung Cho-yiu finished eighth in the women’s scratch race having struggled to up the intensity in the final few laps. The 20-year-old former national handball player will return home disappointed but with the knowledge that she can comfortably keep up with her experienced Belarusian, Japanese and Spanish opponents in the front half.
To and Law Tsz-chun kick off team Hong Kong’s Nations Cup day three as wild cards in the men’s keirin, before Jessica Lee competes in the women’s 500m time trial. Should the trio qualify, they will compete in the respective categories’ finals at night.
