Tokyo Games: Cheuk Ming-ho breaks Hong Kong record but still fails to obtain direct entry for Olympics
- The 19-year-old prodigy will have to wait until the end of the month to see if he can qualify for the B standard
- Star swimmer Siobhan Haughey will take part in all three individual events in Tokyo but happy to give chance to her teammates in the relay
Cheuk Ming-ho saved his best for last by bettering his own Hong Kong record again in the men’s 200 metres freestyle but the result was still not good enough to send him straight to next month’s Olympic Games.
In the last qualification race for Hong Kong swimmers for Tokyo, the 19-year-old prodigy clocked one minute and 47.46 seconds in the Division 1 Long Course competition at the Victoria Park swimming pool, the third time he set a Hong Kong record in the event since March. However, the 1:47.02 Olympic A qualification time, which would have been good enough to make the top 16 at the last Olympic Games in Rio, was a bridge too far for Cheuk. He failed by less than half a second.
“I’ve never felt so disappointed in breaking the Hong Kong record,” said a dejected Cheuk after the race. “This was the last chance for me after so many attempts and I heard the fans cheering for me as I approached the finish. I knew I was near, but still I could not make it in the end.
“It was a disappointing campaign overall but I must thank all the coaching staff who helped me all the way. In fact we only restarted the qualification [campaign] in March this year because of the pandemic and there were plenty of things I have learned from it which will be beneficial when I start over again for the 2024 Paris Games.”
The qualification for Tokyo started in early 2020 before it was interrupted by the pandemic and only resumed in March this year. Cheuk had already achieved four Olympic B qualification times from 100 metres freestyle to 800 metres freestyle. The Hong Kong, China Swimming Association has also placed him as a potential qualifier.