Road to Paris Olympics: alarm bells ringing for Hong Kong cyclists as official issues qualification warning
- Chairman of city’s Cycling Association highlights danger city’s team won’t qualify for the 2024 Games
- Hong Kong sent a team of six cyclists to Tokyo Olympics, but Lee Sze-wing’s 19th place in women’s omnium in Cairo was best result so far
Hong Kong’s cyclists are in danger of failing to qualify for next year’s Olympics in Paris, a leading official has said.
Leung Hung-tak, chairman of the city’s cycling association, sounded the alarm after the team failed to perform at either of the first two Nations Cup events of the year, in Jakarta and Cairo.
There is a long history of cyclists representing Hong Kong in the Olympics, with Sarah Lee Wai-sze claiming bronze on the track in the 2012 and 2020 Games and Wong Kam-po first appearing in the men’s points race in Sydney in 2000.
But less than two years after sending a team of six to Tokyo, there is a danger not one cyclist will make the Hong Kong delegation for Paris in 2024.
“It doesn’t look that promising at the moment,” Leung said. “With two rounds of the Nations Cup completed, our riders are struggling against the world’s best and have to work hard and improve in the remaining events, or we may not qualify for Paris, which will be a huge disappointment.”
The qualification process for the Summer Games is already under way, with the two best results from this year’s Nations Cup, which ends in Canada next month, the 2023 Asian Championships in June and the World Championships in August counting towards the rankings.
