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Mike Chan

Lo Wai-fung admitted there was a gap between him and elite taekwondo athletes after finishing seventh in the under-68kg category at the Paris Olympics.
The first Hongkonger to qualify for the Games since taekwondo became a medal sport in Sydney in 2000, Lo was denied in the repechage round late on Thursday by Liang Yushuai of China, who was then awarded bronze when his next opponent withdrew from their final.
The 21-year-old Lo lost the first round only 5-4 but the second round was stopped after Liang’s lead grew to 13-0, giving him a 2-0 success.
“I panicked in round two and didn’t defend well,” he said later. “I was rushing [to get some points back] and that led to the turning kick to my head.

“I wasn’t nervous, but worrying about the points difference [when trailing by eight] while competing at the Olympics made me realise the difference between me and others.
“Experience, speed, strength – there were gaps in every aspect. If my stamina was not as good, I should have played to my strength and done more of what I was good at, instead of using my shortcomings to fight the others.”
Having been handed a spot at the Games after refugee athlete Ali Reza Abbasi was disqualified, Lo had a convincing 2-0 win over Yahya Al Ghotany of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team in the qualification round at Paris’ Grand Palais.
Being drawn with reigning Olympic and Asian Games champion Ulugbek Rashitov in the round of 16 turned out to be a blessing in disguise, despite a 2-0 loss.
With the Uzbek going on to reach the gold medal match – where he beat Jordan’s Zaid Kareem to defend his title – Lo, as a loser to a finalist, was one of two given the opportunity to fight in the repechage. That chance was not available to the others ousted in the last 16.
“I’ll continue to work hard and try to narrow the gap [with the best],” said Lo, who is expected to pocket HK$375,000 (US$48,000) in prize money from the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme. “I believe I can surpass them one day.
“I can surely do better and I do have a lot of shortcomings, I just need to work on them to slowly improve myself.
“I still want to win medals – this is the same for any athlete. I enjoyed every minute of my first Games. From scouting the arena earlier to finishing my competition, it felt like a dream. There were a lot of spectators and I had never seen that before.”
Even if he will head home empty-handed, the Hong Kong coach heaped praise on his pupil for executing what they had planned.
“He could use all the strategies we laid out for him, so the coaching staff were extremely satisfied,” Kelvin Wong Ka-wing said. “It was a fact that we didn’t bring home any medals, but he did really well.”

Taekwondo receives second-tier public funding from the Hong Kong Sports Institute. Wong added that if the sport were to be upgraded to Tier A, with the extra resources that brings, the city could potentially aim higher.
“We could participate in more overseas competitions and try to qualify for the next Olympics via world rankings,” he said.
“But there’s always a way to try to do it, regardless of our status. We will not play the blame game.”


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Paris Olympics: Hong Kong’s Lo Wai-fung eyes future taekwondo medals after lesson on debut

Lo Wai-fung of Hong Kong aims to outmanoeuvre Liang Yushuai of China during Thursday’s bout. Photo: Reuters

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Liang Yushuai (left) and Lo Wai-fung tangle during their repechage bout. Photo: Reuters

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Sport

Hong Kong

Paris Olympics 2024

Games ‘made me realise the difference’ between the best and the rest, but he vows to work to narrow the gap


Games ‘made me realise the difference’ between the best and the rest, but he vows to work to narrow the gap.


Paris Olympics: Hong Kong’s Lo Wai-fung eyes future taekwondo medals after lesson on debut

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Games ‘made me realise the difference’ between the best and the rest, but he vows to work to narrow the gap

Games ‘made me realise the difference’ between the best and the rest, but he vows to work to narrow the gap