Young Lo lives Olympic dream

Stacy Shi

Hong Kong's first-ever taekwondo representative in the Olympics, Lo Wai-fung, lived his dream in Paris where he came up against a familiar opponent.

Lo, 21, kicked off his Olympic debut with a 2-0 win against Yahya Al Ghotany of the Refugee Team before losing to defending champion Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 of the men's 68-kilogram event.

Rashitov is no stranger to Lo, who also lost to the Uzbek at the same stage of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. Rashitov, 22, went on to win gold.

Lo described competing in the Olympics as a dream.

"I can't believe there were so many spectators watching my competition, I've never had so many in the past," he said. "I was so happy to hear them cheering and supporting me."

Lo was also glad with his improvement and the fight he put up against Rashitov.

"My opponent was the gold medalist in the previous Olympics. However, my performance in this competition was superior to that which I exhibited at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

"Despite the outcome, I'm satisfied that there has been a narrowing of the gap between us."

Against Al Ghotany, Lo secured an early advantage with three head kicks worth nine points within the first minute. This was followed by a two-point body kick and another three-point head kick, which concluded the first round.

Al Ghotany attempted to turn the tide in the second round, hitting Lo's body, but the Hongkonger kept his momentum and landed strong kicks to his opponent's head.

After less than a two-hour rest, Lo faced Rashitov.

Rashitov dominated from the start and took the first round with 47 seconds to spare. The Uzbek also took the second round for a 2-0 win but not after Lo showed some fight.