China’s Asian Games reportedly at risk of Covid-19 postponement, but Hong Kong athletes are defiant

2022 Games in Hangzhou could be moved back a year, director general of the Games’ governing body is quoted as saying, as nearby Shanghai battles outbreak

Hong Kong ‘Hurdle Queen’ Vera Lui and teammates are training in Germany, and their coach says they ‘don’t care’ about postponement rumours

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Vera Lui Lai-yiu (left) is among the Hong Kong athletes training in Germany for the Asian Games. Photo: HKAAA

Published: 8:15am, 25 Apr 2022

Speculation that September’s Asian Games in Hangzhou could be postponed until 2023 because of Covid-19 is being blocked out by Hong Kong’s athletes, as they try to focus on preparing for an event viewed as their primary target this year.

Three of the city’s hurdlers, including “Hurdle Queen” Vera Lui Lai-yiu, competed in France on Saturday after training for the past month in Germany, where they will be based for a further two months with the Games specifically in mind.

However, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Friday that the Games could be moved back a year because of China’s coronavirus outbreak. The news agency quoted a senior official from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the Games’ governing body.

Host city Hangzhou is 160km (100 miles) from Shanghai, which continues to report more than 20,000 new coronavirus infections each day and has been in lockdown for the past four weeks.

Hong Kong hurdlers (from left) Mui Ching-yeung, Cheung Wang-fung and Vera Lui Lai-yiu started their outdoor season in France on Saturday. Photo: Handout

“No official decision has been taken by the committee until now, but there is a possibility that it will be postponed,” Kuwait’s Husain Al-Musallam, the OCA director general, told AFP.