Paris 2024: new high-speed windsurfing foil means all Hong Kong sailors start from scratch, Olympian Michael Cheng says
- Two-time Olympian Cheng says his superior experience gives him zero advantage over his Hong Kong rivals in the race to qualify for Paris 2024
- The iQFOIL class replaces RS:X for the Paris Games, though next year’s Hangzhou Asian Games will feature both classes
Two-time Olympian Michael Cheng Chun-leung said his Olympic experience gave him no advantage over his teammates in using the new class of windsurfing board ahead of Thursday’s Haitong Hong Kong Open Championships in Stanley.
With the RS:X class ending its Olympic stint at this year’s Tokyo Games, a new iQFOIL class will be introduced at the 2024 Paris Games. The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games will feature both classes as a transition arrangement.
Hong Kong sailors are among those setting their sights on the Paris Games and have already started preparing on the new boards, which can increase speeds significantly by installing a foil to the bottom.
“We all start in the same block under this new class,” said Cheng, who represented Hong Kong at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. “People say I was an Olympian for two Games so I must be very strong and difficult to beat, but actually I only started iQFOIL a couple of months after the Tokyo Olympics.
“In fact, those who did not need prepare for the Tokyo Olympics have already trained in the new class and technically they may know iQFOIL better than me. What I have got is the experience and the international exposure over these years but I still need to work hard to adapt to the changes.”
Cheung will be given a good opportunity to test his progress in iQFOIL when the Hong Kong Open Championships get under way at Stanley main beach. The four-day event, which offers a total purse of HK$120,000, will feature the new class and the traditional raceboard class.