Lee Lai-shan thrilled by Cheung Ka-long’s gold medal – after 25 years, ‘Hong Kong athletes are not rubbish’ cry holds true
- Hong Kong’s first-ever Olympic champion, who won the windsurfing title in Atlanta 1996, hopes for more gold from the squad at Tokyo Games
- The queen of Hong Kong sport says she hopes the government will pour more resources into sporting facilities in the city after Cheung’s victory
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When windsurfer Lee Lai-shan won the first-ever gold medal for Hong Kong at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, she was already thinking about who would be the city’s next champion – hoping her heroics off the Georgia coast would inspire a new generation of elite athletes.
It may have taken a quarter of a century but the 24-year-old Cheung, the son of two former basketball players, proved that San San’s iconic line after she won gold in Atlanta – “Hong Kong athletes are not rubbish” – was true with his gold medal on Monday.
“I am so happy that after 25 years, there is finally another Hong Kong gold medallist,” Lee told the Post. “And I hope there is more to come in Tokyo. We are all very proud of Edgar and Hong Kong people should be proud of him.
“I said when I won gold in Atlanta that ‘Hong Kong athletes are not rubbish’, and Edgar has proved that. Not only him but we have so many athletes who work so hard and are top 10 or top 20 in the world and this is something to be proud of.
“Edgar’s gold medal will hopefully boost Hong Kong sport even more and be the start of a new golden generation for Hong Kong athletes.”
Who is Hong Kong Olympic gold medallist Cheung Ka-long?
Lee also paid tribute to Cheung’s parents, who supported their child even when he chose fencing over the sport they loved – basketball.
San San and her husband, Sam Wong Tak-sum – Hong Kong’s men’s windsurfing representative at the 1996 Games – said they hoped Cheung’s performance would serve as a reminder to those in charge of Hong Kong’s sporting purse strings that more support was needed.
Sam Wong said Cheung’s success was not a one-off but a years-long programme of talent identification, training and hard work by fencing’s governing body and the Hong Kong Sports Institute.
“I hope his success will convince the authorities to provide more resources to sport in Hong Kong, with more facilities. And I hope this shows parents that there is a future in sports,” he said.
“Hong Kong fencing first won a bronze in the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and a lot of resources have been devoted to sports development and research to achieve the results today.”
Lee’s gold still the pinnacle of sporting achievement more than two decades after Olympic success
The Institute’s head rowing coach, Chris Perry, has the rare privilege of witnessing both of Hong Kong’s gold medals, having travelled to Savannah by car in 1996 to catch San San just as she was winning gold in her final race.
On Monday, he was stuck at the athletes’ village because of Covid-19 restrictions but said he was honoured to be there for two historic moments in Hong Kong sport.
“I must say I feel really privileged to have witnessed both gold medals,” Perry told the Post. “It gives a real sense of history. Very different too – windsurfing a long battle over days and fencing an explosive battle over a day.
“Many people forget the sheer hours of sweat and intense training that go into producing that kind of result. And all the coaches, support staff and others who back up the athlete day in and day out.
“Huge credit to the fencing programme as this has been a long time in the making.”
