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Gymnast Shek Wai-hung back in Olympics with two difficult vault jumps that could make or break his medal hopes
- Shek has been practising two jumps made famous by 2016 Rio vault champion Ri Se-gwang, of North Korea, each having the highest difficulty value
- He was first gymnast to have represented Hong Kong in the Olympics when he qualified for the 2012 London Games, though he failed to make it to Rio in 2016
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Hong Kong vault specialist Shek Wai-hung must have practised his jumps more than 1,000 times over the past three years – but it will the two jumps he makes at the Tokyo Olympics this summer that matter most.
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Returning to the Olympic Games after nine years, Shek is aiming high by performing two jumps with the highest difficulty value and named after 2016 Olympic champion Ri Se-gwang, of North Korea, who retired in 2020.
“I now have much more confidence in handling the two difficult jumps after so many practice sessions,” said Shek, who was the first gymnast to represent Hong Kong at the Olympic Games when making his debut in London 2012.
“But still, it all depends on how you perform on that day as a minor mistake may cost you dearly. After all, I have not taken part in any competition for more than a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the next event will be the Tokyo Olympics.”
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Shek and the Hong Kong team have not taken part in competition since the 2020 World Cup series in Buka, Azerbaijan. Since then, they have been training in Hong Kong.
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