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Winter Olympics: Hong Kong’s Sidney Chu to launch local speedskating academy to ‘fill the grass roots gap’
- The 22-year-old targets low-cost ‘interest classes’ in city’s biggest rinks for people of ‘all ages and skating abilities’
- ‘We want to break the image that skating is only for the top, elite echelon class of people,’ says Chu, who finished 24th in Beijing
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Closing his debut Winter Olympics as Hong Kong’s highest-ranked male entrant in history, short-track speed skater Sidney Chu is itching to take advantage of a spike in local interest in the sport.
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As he sees out his post-Games bubble quarantine to resume training China, the 22-year-old is finalising plans for his “HKG Speed Skating Academy” to be rolled out upon his return to the city.
Almost 200 prospective skaters have already applied via his Google form for so-called “pre-launch sign-up interest classes”.
“We want to make sure that when the new ice rink opens, there’s going to be people that skate on it,” said Chu, who is in ongoing talks with Hong Kong’s top rinks, including those in Discovery Bay and Lohas Park.
The Hong Kong Skating Union (HKSU), and Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) short-track head coach Sun Dandan, have welcomed the initiative with open arms, though start dates are “very much based” on the Covid-19 pandemic.
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