Beijing 2022: 6,000km drives, injuries and ‘dying outside’ – how Hong Kong skiers Adrian Yung, Audrey King made it to Winter Olympics

Former Olympian Mark Rudic recounts team’s ‘stressful’ journey from uncertainty to ‘emotional’ qualification success

‘It’s been a roller-coaster and now we’re doing our final preparations to try to make Hong Kong proud’, he says

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Hong Kong ski head coach Marko Rudic (left) and coaching staff with athlete Audrey King (middle) and Adrian Yung (second from right) after an Olympics training camp in Europe. Photo: Skiing Association of Hong Kong

Published: 8:15am, 22 Jan 2022

Winged by his two Winter Olympics-bound stars, Hong Kong alpine skiing head coach Marko Rudic was grinning from ear to ear while calling in to the “Beijing Here We Come” meet-and-greet from his native Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday.

In two weeks, 17-year-old Adrian Yung Hau-tseun and 19-year-old Audrey King will be among the world’s best at the Xiaohaituo Alpine Skiing Field in Yanqing, northwest Beijing, after surviving a toilsome qualifying campaign.

Rudic, 32, considered one of his country’s most decorated skiers, said he was “beyond proud” of Team Hong Kong’s achievements – but what local fans and media see is not even the half of it.

“Usually you only see when a team succeeds – you don’t see the story behind it. People don’t understand the effort we go through,” he said.

Hong Kong skiing head coach Marko Rudic (centre) with athletes Adrian Yung (left) and Audrey King (right) calling local media from a pre-Olympics Bosnia training camp. Photo: Andrew McNicol

“Waking up at five in the morning, driving 6,000km a month to cover all the races and training. Even when you’re literally dying outside, you’re still pushing through the conditions. Injuries, cancellations, nobody sees that.