Paris Olympics: Hong Kong sports boss hopes athletes can break medal hoodoo with more success in France
- City’s athletes have only won medals at every other Olympics since a first success in Atlanta 25 years ago
- But with a record 6 medals in Tokyo last time out, Sports Institute CEO Tony Choi hopes the squad can add more to the tally in France
The head of the Hong Kong Sports Institute said the city should be proud of the number of athletes heading to the Paris Olympics, despite expecting the delegation to be smaller than the one which claimed a record six medals in Tokyo.
Tony Choi Yuk-kwan, the HKSI’s chief executive, also said he hoped the squad could finally break the cycle of the city only winning medals every other Games since 1996.
Hong Kong athletes have already qualified for 31 events in France this summer, with swimmer Siobhan Haughey grabbing five of those spots. So far, 24 athletes are heading to the French capital, although more will be added as sports such as cycling and swimming select those who will represent them.
The city could yet also have a place in men’s triathlon, with Jason Ng Tai-long battling to qualify, while Wong Ka-lee is chasing a sport in judo in the women’s -48kg category.
But that number is still likely to be below the 46-strong delegation, 18 men and 28 women, that competed in 37 events in Japan, where Cheung Ka-long’s fencing gold kick-started a historic medal run.
Choi said the city’s athletes were “meeting the standard” and pointed to the high level of events they were expected to compete in over a short period of time.