Speed skater Sidney Chu tops bill as Hong Kong hosts its first competition with ISU rules

Beijing Winter Olympics flag bearer will fly back from the US this weekend to compete on Boxing Day in Discovery Bay

If all goes smoothly, Chu believes the city could put case forward for hosting the 2023 Asian Championships

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Sidney Chu, Hong Kong’s short-track speed skating representative at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:26pm, 13 Dec 2022Updated: 12:41pm, 14 Dec 2022

Speed skating star Sidney Chu will fly back to his home city to compete in this month’s Hong Kong Cup in Discovery Bay – the first local competition running International Skating Union (ISU) rules.

More than 50 skaters will compete in 11 groups on Boxing Day, including Sports Institute athletes Kwok Tsz-ho, Kwok Tsz-fung and Lam Ching-yan, as well as several students from Chu’s Hong Kong Speed Skating Academy.

If all goes smoothly, Chu believes that the city could put a case forward for hosting the 2023 Asian Championships – which would see him competing internationally on home soil.

“It is difficult for Hong Kong to stage international tournaments, let alone to promote winter sports in a subtropical city,” 23-year-old Chu – who is now living in the US to study at Rutgers’ New Jersey Medical School – said during a press conference via Zoom call.

“I hope we will be able to hold more international competitions following the Hong Kong Cup, for example, the Asian Championships.

“There is a good chance that next year’s Asian Championships might be held in Hong Kong, depending on how well we can run the Cup later this month.”

Hong Kong skating team athletes Lam Ching-yan (right), Kwok Tsz-Fung (middle) and Kwok Tsz-ho. Photo: Mike Chan

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