Tokyo Olympics: Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au fails to make backstroke semi-finals, but delays retirement
- Au, the Hong Kong 100m backstroke record-holder, falls short in bid to reach last 16
- Veteran confirms she will swim on until the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China
Hong Kong’s Stephanie Au Hoi-shun missed out on the chance to make the semi-finals of the 100-metre backstroke at what will almost certainly be her last Olympics at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday.
The 29-year-old stopped the clock in a time of one minute, 1.07 seconds before it transpired that it would take an effort better than Anna Konishi’s 1:00.04 to join the world’s elite in the semi-finals.
Au’s personal best time is 1:00.22, a national record that she set at the 2019 Fina Swimming World Cup in Singapore.
Her time on Sunday was over three seconds off the blistering pace set by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown, who chalked up a new Olympic record in her heat. The Olympic record went three times in three races as the world’s best went full tilt in the heats.
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“This is my best time this year,” Au said. “And I got very close to my Hong Kong record so there is still plenty of room for improvement.”