Japan Cup II: Sarah Lee proves age is just a number with blistering seasonal best time en route to sprint silver

Hong Kong cycling ace Sarah Lee Wai-sze proved a point to the detractors questioning her age as she set her best time of the year in Saturday’s Japan Cup II sprint, boosting her hopes of winning gold in the keirin on Sunday.

The 35-year-old clocked a time of 10.752 seconds to finish second in the qualifying race, before beating Taiwan’s Wang Tzu-Chun 2-0, and then getting a measure of revenge with a 2-1 victory over Fuko Umekawa, who beat her in Thursday’s Japan Cup I final.

Lee was beaten 2-0 in the final by Japan’s Mina Sato, who had the benefit of additional rest following her semi-final opponent’s withdrawal.

“Perhaps I had won too much previously, so when I came in second, everyone was startled and declared I was old,” the Olympic bronze medallist wrote in an Instagram post.

“In truth, everyone is ageing every second … so you should not imagine that athletes age particularly quickly.

“I was thrilled even though I did not win anything because I know I can still compete and take cycling seriously with 101 per cent of my effort and mental capacity.”