Hong Kong cycling star Lee Sze-wing hits out at ‘pointless training’ after officials axe Asian Championships entry
- Hong Kong cycling chief cites Covid-19 safety fears and ‘more important competitions coming up’ after opting to forego trip to India
- ‘No place is a guarantee you will not get Covid-19,’ the 21-year-old Lee says – ‘we train so hard for competitions, otherwise training is pointless’
Rising star Lee Sze-wing has questioned Hong Kong’s decision not to send a team to the Asian Track Cycling Championships in India over Covid-19 safety fears.
The city had named a squad of 30 cyclists for the New Delhi event between June 18 and 22, including National Games champion Lee, and double Olympic bronze medallist Sarah Lee Wai-sze.
But head coach Shen Jinkang and the city’s Cycling Association decided at a meeting on Monday to withdraw from the event and forego the trip, out of fear their athletes could damage their long-term health by contracting Covid-19.
The decision comes despite Hong Kong’s men’s football team playing Asian Cup qualifiers in the same country this month.
“We know that it is not good for athletes not to be able to compete overseas,” Cycling Association chairman Leung Hung-tak said when asked about the comparison with the city’s footballers.
“But we have more important competitions coming up, including the World Track Championships in October and the postponed Asian Games, and we don’t want our athletes to take a risk in India.
