Olympians do us proud

Hong Kong's Olympians bagged a record tally of medals after years of blood, sweat and tears that propelled them to the top.

They grabbed six medals in the Tokyo Olympics, including the last bronze - won by cycling queen Sarah Lee Wai-sze - yesterday to cheers and shrieks around Hong Kong.

With one gold, two silver and three bronze medals the haul marks the most successful Games ever in Hong Kong's history.

Lam Tai-fai, chairman of the Hong Kong Sports Institute, declared: "This proves the government's investment in athletes is worthwhile."

But the athletes' efforts cannot be understated, said Sports Federation and Olympic Committee vice president Kenneth Fok Kai-kong.

Pointing to 34-year-old Lee's bronze effort, he called on people "not to focus only on the color of the medal or the moment she got the medal."

It would have been hard for her to get back in the racing groove after crashing out of the 2016 Rio Olympics and then as a veteran adjusting her training with the Tokyo Olympics postponed for a year, he said.

"Lee could not be with her family for a long time due to her training overseas, and it was all for the competition." he said. "I believe she has given up a lot, and I hope Hongkongers are proud of her."

But Chung Pak-kwong, a sports and physical education professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, warned that a rethink is necessary to extend the success in the Paris Olympics three years from now.

That would include going beyond a reliance on star athletes in some sports and nurturing their successors, Chung said, as there is a lack of new blood.

"As citizens will have a bigger expectation of the Hong Kong team in the next Olympics," he added, "I hope the government will review policies in the development of elite sports. Existing policies might already be unsuitable for making improvements."

This came after Lee, the SAR's top cyclist, defeated Germany's rising star and reigning world champion Emma Hinze, 23, in a sprint to snatch the bronze medal at the end of the 17-day Olympics.

That made Lee the first local athlete to win medals in two Olympics. The first was a bronze in the keirin race back the 2012 London Games.

"Despite only getting bronze, I have fulfilled half my dreams," Lee said, adding that the medal was being dedicated to the team behind her as well as God and her family.

It was also a pity not to get a medal in keirin earlier at Tokyo, she said, losing in the quarter-finals after missing two opportunities to break from the pack.

Lee also thanked coach Shen Jinkang for his encouragement after that defeat.

Shen told her the Olympics is just a big game, and the experience and lessons learned were far more meaningful than a medal.

Besides her family, Lee said, Hongkongers had been at her side throughout her 13-year career.

"And wearing a Hong Kong jersey makes me feel like I am having all their strength powering me and my bike to victory."

Shen said that the Hong Kong team had tailored Lee's tactics for facing down world champion Hinze after the German ended Lee's 19-month winning streak in the semi-finals of the Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin last March.

Shen also said Lee's loss to Ukrainian Olena Starikova in the semi-finals, which cost her the chance for a gold yesterday, was due to a premature attack, which allowed Starikova to use her explosive speed to win.

Lee's bronze as Hong Kong's sixth and final medal at Tokyo Olympics helped push Hong Kong to 49th on the medal count table.

Fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long started the run on a high note, snatching Hong Kong's second-ever gold medal in Olympic Games in the men's individual foil event after thrashing world No 1 Alessio Foconi and reigning Olympics champion Daniele Garozzo, both Italians, on July 26.

Swimmer Siobhan Haughey did her bit for the medal tally, taking home two silver medals in the 200 meter and 100m freestyle events on July 28 and 30 respectively.

The women's table tennis team of Doo Hoi-kem, Lee Ho-ching and Minnie Soo Wai-yam lost to Japan in the semi-finals but then beat Germany to claim bronze on Thursday.

And Grace Lau Mo-sheung defeated Dilara Bozan of Turkey in the karate's individual kata event to win bronze the same day.

Given Hong Kong's 7.5 million population, six medals means one medalist for every 1.25 million people.

This compares with one in three million for the United States, which won the most medals in this year's Games with 113.