‘Most families would be planning for 12 months, we have four weeks’: father of 16-year-old Arabella Ng, set to be Hong Kong’s sole representative at the Winter Olympics, talks about his daughter’s dramatic rise
Tim Ng says they are still awaiting official confirmation from the IOC but their calculations suggest his daughter will become Hong Kong’s sixth winter Olympian at the February 9-25 extravaganza
The father of Arabella Ng, who is in line to become Hong Kong’s sole participant at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, spoke of his pride and surprise that the 16-year-old is competing at the elite level in just her first year on the senior circuit.
Tim Ng said they were still awaiting official confirmation from the IOC (International Olympic committee) on her qualification but their calculations suggested his daughter would become just Hong Kong’s sixth winter Olympian at the February 9-25 extravaganza.
“Qualification ends on the 21st of January, but doing the maths it seems she has done enough to qualify,” said Tim Ng. “We haven’t heard anything official yet, but it’s likely she will qualify in both the slalom and giant slalom events.”
Arabella Ng will become just Hong Kong’s sixth winter Olympian. Photo: Handout
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Arabella, who attends the illustrious Green Mountain Valley School, a ski academy in Vermont, US, is set to fulfil the requirements for the IOC’s “B standard” for qualification, which states a national Olympic committee can put forward an athlete if they have accrued 140 FIS (International Ski Federation) points over an average of five races.
She competed in her first senior level FIS race in November last year.
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“She’s training hard and still trying to make sure she gets the required points; she was competing in just the last few days,” said Tim Ng.
