Hong Kong cycling sensation Ceci Lee Sze-wing has made history at the 15th National Games, becoming the first athlete from the city to claim three gold medals in a single edition and cementing her status as the undisputed star of the delegation’s record-breaking campaign.
The 23-year-old, affectionately known as Ceci, dominated the women’s individual road race, the omnium on the track, and teamed up with Leung Wing-yee to win the Madison, turning the disappointment of a 20th-place finish at last year’s Paris Olympics into pure motivation.
She told The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Striding On magazine that the Paris result left her devastated and refused to settle, prompting a ruthless overhaul of her training regime that paid off spectacularly this month.
Lee’s journey began far from the velodrome. As a child diagnosed with ADHD who could never sit still in class, her father channelled her boundless energy into sport after sport until cycling finally clicked.
Every evening he would run alongside her into the ground, pushing her to chase him faster and forging the relentless drive that now defines her career.
Behind the medals stands decades of backing from The Hong Kong Jockey Club, which founded the Hong Kong Sports Institute in 1982 and has poured more than HK$700 million into its facilities. Lee credits the institute’s all-round care (nutrition, recovery, accommodation) for letting athletes focus entirely on performance.
Her golden treble will earn her HK$2.25 million under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, part of the HK$11.475 million being distributed to Hong Kong’s 19 medallists after the city’s richest ever National Games haul of nine golds, two silvers, and eight bronzes.
Already looking ahead, Lee plans a short rest before tackling a gruelling winter training camp in mountainous Hainan, determined to sharpen both body and mind for next year’s Asian Championships.
With the Jockey Club committing over HK$500 million to support the Games across Hong Kong and Guangdong (including technical expertise for equestrian events in Shenzhen), the city’s sporting ecosystem has never been stronger, and its brightest star is only getting started.
