At the Paris Olympics, Hong Kong medallists show their mental grit. Photo: ReutersHong Kong spectators were left stunned with the mental strength of the city’s Olympic champions. Experts have marvelled at the decisive psychological moves made during the heat of competition and the benefit of adopting a spirit of “swimming upstream”.
They analysed the winning tactics after fencers Cheung Ka-long and Vivian Kong Man-wai recovered from early setbacks to win gold, while Siobhan Haughey came away with bronze.
Patrick Lau Wing-chung, a professor of physical education at Baptist University, where Cheung studies, on Tuesday said: “Eighty per cent [of their victories] depended on their mental state.”
Both foilist Cheung and épéeist Kong overcame the setbacks they faced during their finals, which some have called the “Hong Kong spirit”.
Cheung’s father told local media his heart “could not handle” the stress while watching the match, despite having confidence in his son.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung shared a similar sentiment and said Cheung’s match “almost gave him a heart attack”.
Hongkonger Vivian Kong wins gold at the Paris Olympics, boosts fencing school sign-ups
“I closely followed the competition [on Monday] evening, and it was extremely intense,” he wrote on Facebook. “He lived up to expectations and added another gold medal for Hong Kong. He truly deserves the title of sword god.”
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said Cheung’s turnaround showed his extremely high level of performance, determination and psychological strength.
Gregory Koenig, Cheung’s coach, said he was “happy and proud” of the performance and hailed the athlete’s mindset while stressing how much he had evolved since the Tokyo Games in 2021, where he also won gold.
“In Tokyo, he was a boy who really had no fear, but what he did today showed that he is totally a man,” the French coach said after the final match. “He became a real man, a grown man, because to defend the title like this with what he did psychologically, it’s absolutely insane.”
Cheung built up a 9-6 lead in the first three minutes against Italy’s Filippo Macchi, who later surged ahead to 14-12. But after three stoppages for video review during the second round, Cheung was awarded the winning 15th point.
Karen Lo Cheuk-hang, a sports psychologist with sport and performance psychology consultancy Inner Edge, said an athlete’s mental state became decisive whenever they might feel anxious after taking the lead due to fear of losing that advantage.
“You need to be able to be super focused and have good decision-making,” Lo said. “It’s more about being able to move on after a mistake or knowing exactly what you’re going to do next, and that’s something that you can actually train with an athlete.”
She added that coaches experienced as much anxiety and pressure as the athletes and a calm presence was important to ensure both worked seamlessly together.
“In the end, it’s just encouragement, making sure that you’re giving reminders and feedback that the athlete understands really quickly so that he or she is able to take it all in,” she said. “That’s something the coach needs to work out with the athlete very early on.”
Lobo Louie Hung-tak, senior lecturer of health and physical education at the Education University of Hong Kong, said a good bond between coach and athlete was crucial to successfully deciding tactics based on the latter’s psychological state.
“In individual sports like fencing, focused athletes may not receive much external input. Coaches must know the athlete well enough to grasp his mental state and only give short tactical pointers,” said Louie, who is also the chairman of the quality assurance committee of the Hong Kong Coaching Committee.
Psychological training at the Hong Kong Sports Institute included simulating scenarios where an athlete fell significantly behind during a match and so adopted techniques such as positive self-talk, Louie noted.
“You can see Ka-long shouted when he was catching up in points. It helps him avoid falling into negative emotions. Self-fulfilling prophecy in psychology suggests if you believe you missed something, you are more likely to actually miss,” Louie said. “You can see the resilience of Ka-long as well as Vivian.”
Paris Olympics: Hong Kong celebrates as Cheung Ka-long bags gold, Siobhan Haughey wins bronze
Kong clinched the city’s first gold in the women’s épée after emerging from a six-point deficit to win 13-12 in sudden death against France’s Auriane Mallo-Breton on the first day of the Summer Games.
Haughey, who won bronze in the women’s 200m freestyle on Monday night, said she was “confident” in herself and her training, and that she knew she could attain “good results” as long as she maintained her usual performance.
Lau said Hong Kong had reached world standards regarding the training of athletes over the past two decades.
“The Hong Kong Sports Institute is providing training in sports science, how to help athletes recover and prevent injuries and psychological counselling after their recoveries,” Lau said. “Hong Kong is getting better and better in terms of the whole package.”
Kong’s gold had given all athletes a boost in the coming competitions, he said, adding: “This is very much in line with Hong Kong’s ‘swimming upstream’ spirit.”