Paris Olympics: sailor Nicholas Halliday aiming to outdo groundbreaker Stephanie Norton now he has hit childhood goal
- Norton finished 39th among 44 sailors at the women’s laser radial in Tokyo three years ago
- Halliday says he is happy to achieve his Olympic dream after representing the city since he was 15
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Nicholas Halliday says he hopes to outdo the achievements of fellow Dinghy sailor Stephanie Norton when he competes for Hong Kong at the Paris Olympic Games this summer.
Norton was the first local sailor to compete at the Olympics in 25 years when she took part three years ago in Tokyo, finishing 39th out of 44 sailors in the women’s laser radial event.
“It’s always a goal to beat your teammate’s ranking,” said Halliday, who will be competing in the ILCA 7 class. “For sure she’s our most accomplished sailor and I think all of us want to take her off the top, but we also very much respect her.”
The 24-year-old, who was born in Hong Kong to an American mother and a Scottish father, said he was happy to achieve his Olympics dream after finishing first at the men’s Dinghy Asian Continental qualifier last December.
“It’s been a goal of mine since I was a kid – I’ve been trying to go for it since Tokyo,” he said. “It’s my first time. I don’t really have any expectations, except just to give it the best I got.
“I’m just going to see where I end up from there, and learn as much as I can from the top competitors.”
Halliday, who has represented Hong Kong since he was 15, also revealed the story behind his Chinese name, pronounced Bei Jun-long, which was decided in a matter of minutes.
“I was 18 and wanted to go to the Asian Games, so I changed my passport and wanted to have a Chinese name,” said Halliday, who finished fourth and seventh at the Games in Hangzhou and Jakarta respectively. “I came down to Hong Kong Sports Institute and talked to my strength trainer, and we sat down and came up with this name.
Hong Kong also has Akira Sakai and Russell Aylsworth heading to the Games after they qualified for the men’s 49er Skiff at the French Olympic Week Last Chance Regatta last month.
The duo, who have been partners since 2018, missed out on the Tokyo Games but have since won bronze in Hangzhou last September, and were relieved to reach Paris.
“I am very happy and felt very proud of the achievement that Akira and I have done,” Aylsworth, 23, said. “Missing Tokyo by a point [in qualification] really fuelled us to work hard for this Olympic cycle.
“We’re probably going in as an underdog, so we’re not seen to be a threat to anybody. I think the pressure is off for us, so we’re quite excited to compete. Our goal is to sail at our very best.”
Sakai, who was born on a boat at Hebe Haven in Sai Kung, said having an “aligned goal” with Aylsworth was a boost for the pair’s chemistry.
“We both know what we want to achieve,” the 31-year-old said. “So it’s quite easy to get along with each other and work everything out if there are arguments or disagreements.”
Sailing events at the Paris Games will be held at the Marseille Marina. The 49er class for Sakai and Aylsworth begins on July 28 and ends with the medal race on August 1, the same day Halliday makes his Games debut in the ILCA 7 class, which runs until the medal race on August 6.
