Top Hong Kong high-jumper Phoebe Chung aims for Wan Chai podium after narrow miss at Asian Indoor Championships
- This weekend’s Hong Kong Athletics Series 1 kicks off packed six months for the 24-year old, who finished fourth in Astana
- “It’s really motivating for me after a valuable experience battling with Olympians and an Asian record holder,’ Chung says
Top Hong Kong high-jumper Phoebe Chung Wai-yan will be aiming higher at the city’s Athletics Series 1 on Sunday in Wan Chai, after narrowly missing out on a medal at the Asian Indoor Championships.
The Hongkonger was just one place off the podium in Astana, Kazakhstan two weeks ago. She cleared 1.65 metres, 1.70 metres, 1.75 metres, and 1.80 metres with only one jump each, and was in second place before failing to reach 1.84 metres and missing out on a medal.
“It was really motivating for me to finish fourth after a valuable experience battling with Olympians and an Asian record holder there, I learned a lot from them,” Chung, 24, said.
Three athletes from the host country dominated the podium, including two Tokyo Olympians in Nadezhda Dubovitskaya, the current Asian record holder (2.00 metres), and Kristina Ovchinnikova, who took gold with a leap of 1.89 metres.
Yelizaveta Matveyeva, who has a personal best of 1.92 metres, finished third with 1.84 metres.
“To be honest, I did not expect such a strong field, this is my first indoor regional championships and my personal best [1.80 metres] is the lowest compared to all of my competitors, but I was fortunate to be competing against them.
