National Games medal shortfall for Hong Kong after massive Olympic overachievement
- Lengthy quarantine requirement cost Hong Kong athletes dearly in Xian with only two gold and five bronze medals to show for their efforts
- Hong Kong will co-host the next Games in 2025 and early preparation will be required
As the curtain falls on the 2021 edition of the National Games of China at the Olympics Sports Centre in Xian on Monday night, the Hong Kong delegation will feel relieved to depart the mainland after a disappointing return from its seventh appearance at the Games since unification in 1997.
Shortly after achieving its best ever medal haul at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last month, where Hong Kong athletes claimed one gold, two silver and three bronze medals, the city might have been expected to deliver a similarly impressive result at the nationwide event. In the end, it was left to a 20-year-old rookie to salvage the campaign on the last day of competition.
Lee Sze-wing’s gold medal in the individual road race provided a timely second national title for Hong Kong after teammate Sarah Lee Wai-sze provided the first in the women’s sprint at the velodrome two weeks ago.
Altogether, Hong Kong returned with two gold and five bronze medals from Xian, paling in comparison to the much richer haul of two gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals they won at the Tianjin Games four years ago.
Nothing should be taken away from the hard-working Lee Sze-wing who only went full-time in her training after winning a gold medal at the 2019 Asian Junior Championships in Uzbekistan. It’s never easy for a young rider, who has only competed against competitors in her own age group and then attempts to tackle more experienced and more powerful rivals.
