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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
SportHong Kong

Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Hong Kong’s Sarah Lee Wai-sze ‘warmed up’ for final Games but medals not the priority

  • ‘Most of the time we’re not actually in it for the medals,’ said a philosophical Lee just months away from Tokyo
  • The 34-year-old describes nerves before last weekend’s Nations Cup despite winning sprint gold and keirin silver

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Hong Kong track cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze after winning the women’s sprint final at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in the Hong Kong Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Cycling Association of Hong Kong
Andrew McNicol
Hong Kong Olympic hope Sarah Lee Wai-sze said her gold and silver medal-winning return to competition last week will prove invaluable for Tokyo 2020 but tempered expectations of a podium finish at the Games.
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The 34-year-old sprint specialist was satisfied with her performances at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup in the city last weekend after more than 14 months of no competition. She and teammate Jessica Lee Hoi-yan carry Hong Kong’s short-track chances at Tokyo’s Izu Velodrome in under three months’ time.

“We approached the event as if it was a warm-up for the Olympics. If you’re talking about full-on Olympic schedules, we definitely didn’t do that. But we used our Olympics strategies during communication with the coach and on-track performance,” said the London 2012 bronze medallist in a post-event socially distanced interview.

“Honestly, we haven’t competed in so long that we were a bit nervous. So it was good to put a bit of pressure on ourselves and find things to improve on. Now we have three months of hard work and preparation.

Sarah Lee Wai-sze (right) finishes second in the women’s keirin final at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup at the Hong Kong Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: May Tse
Sarah Lee Wai-sze (right) finishes second in the women’s keirin final at the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup at the Hong Kong Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: May Tse
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“There were too many things happening this year because of Covid-19. It’s caused us not to have any feelings. But as the Olympics increasingly seems to be happening, to compete at such a unique event is also a milestone in itself. You don’t even need to think about medals and things. Doing the best I can in this environment will mean I have already succeeded.”

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