Hong Kong sprinter Chan Chun-ho set a new Hong Kong record in the men’s 400 meters at the National Games on Monday, clocking 47.09 seconds in the heats, but the performance was not enough to carry him into the semifinals.
The 22-year-old, running in lane four of heat two, reacted fastest off the blocks and crossed the line with a personal and Hong Kong best, improving on the 47.12 mark he set just last month at the Hong Kong Athletics Series, which broke a decade-old record.
Despite the breakthrough, Chan placed sixth in his heat and missed out on both the top-two automatic qualification spots and the two fastest-loser positions.
In the women’s 400 meters, all three Hong Kong representatives fell short of advancing. Ashleigh Ma Ying-wen, Jane Karlsson and Choi Season finished 14th, 16th and 18th out of 18 athletes overall, recording times of 56.88, 57.88 and 58.27 seconds respectively.
Hong Kong’s long jumpers also struggled in the qualifying round. Law Ngai-him reached 7.49 meters, Chan Ming-tai jumped 7.44 meters and Issac Wong Pak-hang recorded 7.18 meters — all well below their personal bests. The trio ranked 16th to 18th among the 22 competitors.
Action continues tonight with the highly anticipated 100-meter semifinals, where Hong Kong’s Yip King-wai — who broke the Hong Kong record in the event yesterday — will appear in the evening session.
