Hong Kong is sending a four-member squad including two Winter Olympians to try to win a first medal at the Asian Alpine Ski Championships, which start in Mzaar, Lebanon on Thursday. Adrian Yung Hau-tsuen and Audrey King, who represented the city at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics last week, will be joined by two young skiers – Chloe Wong and Eloise King, Audrey’s cousin. Hong Kong has never won a medal at the regional championships, with the best result a podium finish in a children’s event, but officials have high hopes for a breakthrough in the Middle East. “The two Olympians may not be that competitive in the Beijing Games as they featured against the world’s best Alpine skiers, but in Lebanon it will be a different story,” Samson Siu, secretary general of the Ski Association of Hong Kong, said. “They have been training hard for the Beijing Games to raise their level and fortunately the Asian event is just right after the Olympics which means they are still in their best shape. Hong Kong Olympian Adrian Yung learns ‘brutal lessons’ after slalom run “Both Yung and King have done well in Europe during their build-up for Beijing and the standard in Europe is better than Asia. They should have a chance this time.” Siu, however, said the team had received little information about which athletes would be taking part, but expected some of those who competed in Beijing not to make the journey. “China, Japan and South Korea are the strongest teams in the region but they may not send their best skiers to the Asian Championships right after the Beijing Olympics. We’ll see.” The official hoped the association could capitalise on the opportunity provided by the 2022 Beijing Games to further promote the sport. “We have received many inquiries from parents after the live broadcast of the Beijing Games in Hong Kong as they want to know more about the sport so that they may send their children to join,” said Siu. “Skiing is not a popular sport in Hong Kong due to the lack of proper venues but we are trying to attract more youngsters for the sake of future development. “Also there are many other disciplines in skiing and we always hope to recruit more potential athletes.” Siu said as far as he knew, Yung had already targeted the next Winter Games in Italy, while Audrey King planned to begin her university career in the United States this autumn, but might continue the sport with her college team.