Let the Force be with you: Hong Kong athlete goes it alone to reach Ironman world champs by winning her first ever triathlon

Picture yourself as a youthful athlete with limited funds. You do not have a coach, you do most of your training on a machine at home, and you teach here and there in between studying full-time for a degree.

How do you focus on top-level competition when money – or lack thereof – is at the forefront of all of your decisions?

Welcome to the paradoxical life of 23-year-old Tsang Ka-hung, the first local Hong Kong woman to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, this October, where she will also be the youngest ever competitor to represent the city at worlds.

“If you gave me a choice, obviously I’d go abroad to train, but I prefer to stay at home and save money,” said Tsang, who qualified for the world’s most prestigious triathlon after finishing first in the female under-24 age group at the Korean Ironman this year.

What’s more impressive is that this was Tsang’s first Ironman event.

“I can’t quite believe it because I qualified on my first try,” she said. “My objective was a podium finish because it was so competitive, but when I dropped my bike off, I knew the top spot was for me.”

Despite bearing the Hong Kong flag during her events, Tsang does not represent Hong Kong via a club or institute. She is an individual athlete, meaning she does everything a sponsored or elite athlete would do, but without the financial support.

“Representing Hong Kong individually and with an institute is different,” said Tsang, who started competing in triathlon at 13. “When you’re with a group of people, they support their athletes when going abroad. We’re funding this by ourselves.