2024 Paris Olympics: Hong Kong marathon man Wong takes next step on ambitious journey to reach Games
- Wong Wan-chun will take part in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships this Saturday
- The 27-year-old is using the event as a warm-up for the Hamburg Marathon in April, his first opportunity to qualify for Paris
Wong Wan-chun sets off for Australia on Wednesday on the next leg of his ambitious journey to qualify for the marathon at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Hong Kong distance runner, who holds the city records at 5,000m, 10km, 15km and half-marathon, will compete in the World Athletics Cross Country Championships this Saturday in Bathurst as the first of two warm-ups for the Hamburg Marathon in April.
Wong, the only Hong Kong runner in the championships, qualified courtesy of his 10km time of 29 minutes and 27 seconds on the Gold Coast last July.
And while he hopes to improve on his 135th place in 2019, when he ran a 39:35, the different nature of the surface means he is not making any predictions.
“It’s not a road race, I cannot predict what time I’ll finish, but I hope to finish in a better position and see my improvements over the last four years compared to the world’s best,” he said.
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There are 230 men and women registered for this weekend’s race, including defending champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who won four years ago in Aarhus, Denmark, in a time of won 31:40.
