Tokyo Olympics: race walker Ching Siu-nga looks certain to qualify – now for Hong Kong’s wild card
- Hurdler Chan Chun-wang set to get men’s wild card after long jumper Chan Ming-tai rejected by World Athletics
- Hurdler Vera Lui feels ‘major loss’ after being denied chances to qualify at overseas competitions
Women’s race walker Ching Siu-nga remains the only hope of Hong Kong athlete in the track and field qualification list for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with one week left before the qualification period ends.
The 34-year-old, who is now in Japan after racing in Spain earlier this month, ranks 53rd on the list which will have 60 athletes competing in the 20-kilometre event in Hokkaido in early August.
Among the Hong Kong athletes chasing Olympic tickets who are unlikely to make it is hurdler Vera Lui Lai-yiu, the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist in the 100m hurdles. She has been trying to find opportunities overseas to boost her world ranking but has not competed in any international race for 15 months because of the pandemic.
“We feel sorry for the athletes as they have been struggling to get any international racing opportunities through the pandemic,” said Association of Athletics Affiliates senior vice-chairman Simon Yeung Sai-mo. “We have been trying to get Lui into races in Europe this month but have been repeatedly rejected. This is not fair.
“This has also happened to our marathon runner Christy Yiu [Kit-ching]. She only raced two times during the entire qualification period after many rejections from event organisers. She broke the Hong Kong record in her two races but is still in less than two minutes behind the Olympic entry time. She may have made it had there been more racing opportunities but they never materialised.”