Race walker Jessica Ching named best female athlete, long-jump star Chan Ming-tai seals men’s title at Hong Kong awards
- Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates hosts awards ceremony for first time in 3 years
- City hurdlers Cheung Siu-hang and Chloe Pak are named top junior athletes
Race walker Jessica Ching Siu-nga and long-jump star Chan Ming-tai were named Hong Kong’s best athletes by the city’s track and field bosses at a ceremony on Tuesday night.
For Ching, who was the first woman from Hong Kong to qualify for the Olympics in her chosen sport, the win was a timely boost ahead of her bid to reach the Asian Games this summer.
Chan, meanwhile, was recognised for his achievements by the Hong Kong Association of Athletics Affiliates for a fourth time, having won three years running from 2015. He was unable to attend the ceremony, as he was still in France for training and competitions.
Hurdlers dominated the junior category, with Chloe Pak Hoi-man, who won gold at the Under-18 Asian Championships in Kuwait City last year, named the best female.
Cheung Siu-hang, who became the first hurdler from the city to reach the finals at an U20 World Championships when he finished seventh in 2021, taking home the prize for best junior male.
With coronavirus pandemic hitting the city since 2020, there were only limited international competitions, and the governing body also found it difficult to host a presentation ceremony because of social-distancing measures.
The association, therefore, combined three years of presentations into one sparkling night.
The winners in the senior category took home HK$10,000 in prize money, with the two junior athletes getting HK$5,000 each.
Having already made history once with her 35th place in the 20km walk at the Tokyo Games, 36-year-old Ching is targeting a spot at the Paris Olympics next year in the new 35km event.
Schoolboy long-jumper wins adult competition at Hong Kong Athletics Series
“There will be a new and longer distance for Paris which suits me better because my endurance capacity is getting better,” Ching said. “I made it to Tokyo through the ranking system but will try to target of achieving the qualifying time to Paris.
“It is not easy as the qualifying mark is always more difficult to attain, but my training pace shows I am capable. The World Athletics will announce the qualifying time soon and I will see.”
To get more racing opportunities, Ching will take part in next month’s Japan National Championships to achieve the 35km qualifying mark for the World Championships in Hungary in July. This will be followed by the Asian Games in Hangzhou and hopefully another Olympics.
Chan, who holds the Hong Kong record at 8.12 metres, cleared eight metres for the first time in five years to win at the Resisprint International meet in La Chaux-de-Fonds, France, in 2022.
