Paris Olympics 2024: Hong Kong fencer Daphne Chan can achieve ‘something crazy’, coach says
- The 19-year-old rejects the comparisons with Cheung Ka-long, but is learning lessons from her Olympic champion teammate
Daphne Chan Nok-sze downplayed talk that she is the natural heir to the Hong Kong Olympic champion fencing king, Cheung Ka-long, ahead of her Games debut this summer.
However, Greg Koenig, who coaches both athletes, insisted that Chan boasts the potential to emulate star foilist Cheung, and achieve “something crazy” in Paris.
Teenager Chan has been tipped for major senior honours since claiming Junior World Cup gold in December 2022. Compatriot Cheung won the same event five years before storming to Olympic glory in Tokyo in 2021.
Chan, who won bronze at last year’s Asian Games, acknowledged it was a “pleasure” to have Cheung as a teammate, but insisted she “is so far away from being at his level”.
“There is a big gap for me to work on [closing], although I appreciate the compliment, when people say I can reach his standard,” Chan said.
“I have spent the season travelling with him, and learning from seeing his skills in person. I see how he prepares, and gets into condition to perform, how he works mentally to be in the zone for competitions.”