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SCMP

This article was first published on July 30, 1996.
Our golden girl
by Nazvi Careem and Scott McKenzie
Cheers and tears swept Hong Kong yesterday (July 29, 1996) on the back of the golden victory for Olympic windsurfer Lee Lai-shan.
The 25-year-old from Cheung Chau won a gold medal for herself and glory for Hong Kong after 44 years of fruitless Olympic competition when she crossed the finish line at Savannah, Georgia, at 5.56 am (Hong Kong time).
Tears streamed down her face as she hugged fiance and fellow Olympic windsurfer Sam Wong Tak-sum and team manager Bertie de Speville. Then, through a mobile phone, she shared her moment of fame with her mother.
Congratulations flooded in from all over the world: holidaying Governor Chris Patten and acting Governor Donald Tsang Yam-kuen were quick to respond; the Hong Kong director of Xinhua (the New China News Agency), Zhou Nan, sent a telegram; and fans who followed her to the United States for the event partied throughout the night.
In Hong Kong, her win was the talk of the town as corporations and individuals announced huge financial rewards for her landmark victory.

For the many who stayed awake for the 5.10 am start of the race it was a moment never to be forgotten.
San San’s mother watched proudly from their Cheung Chau home, surrounded by family and friends. Minutes after returning to the dock her daughter shed tears of joy as she spoke to her mother on a mobile phone.
“I really appreciate the support of my family,” she said afterwards. “Unfortunately, they could not be with me. I have a big family . . . I am the eighth of 10 children and I couldn’t afford to bring them all here.”
Wong was about to start his race when he saw his fiance cross the line and secure the gold medal. He abandoned his starting position and sailed to the marina.
After a congratulatory hug he returned to his post.
Hong Kong chef de mission Pang Chung had tears running down his cheeks at Lee’s success.
“It was just such an emotional moment for me,” Lee, a full-time athlete at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, said.
“This is the culmination of a lot of hard work.”
The Olympic gold is the jewel in the crown for the current world No 1 whose impressive list of achievements includes the world, European and Asian titles.
It also silences some of her detractors, including the unnamed overseas coach, who six years ago told San San’s mentor, Rene Appel, that he was wasting his time bringing her to international events because she was not good enough.
“It’s a great achievement,” Appel said. “She has worked very hard.”
Lee will be given $1 million via the Sports Development Board-Hang Seng Bank Olympic incentive scheme.

Although she has yet to decide how to spend the money, her immediate goals are clear.
“I want to finish off my studies,” Lee, who is pursuing a degree in sports administration at the institute, said. “We have worked very hard for this medal so now I want to take a small break and concentrate on getting my degree.”
But it does not mean she has lost her hunger for competition. She is hoping to win gold at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
A huge celebration awaits San San’s return to the territory with Hong Kong’s first gold medal since the territory joined the Olympic family at the Helsinki Games in 1952.
No one is more proud that the people of Cheung Chau who plan to build a statue commemorating the win and establish an annual day of celebration.
Hong Kong would not see another Olympic gold until 2021, when fencer Cheung Ka-long became an Olympic champion in Tokyo almost exactly 25 years after Lee’s feat in Georgia.

This article was first published on July 27, 2021.
Hong Kong’s golden boy
by Paul Ryding
The long wait is finally over. Twenty-five years after Lee Lai-shan won a his­toric gold medal for Hong Kong at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, fen­cer Edgar Cheung Ka-long carved his place in his­tory by win­ning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics yes­ter­day (July 26, 2021).
Cheung, 24, can now lay claim to being the finest foil fen­cer in the world after des­troy­ing the defend­ing Olympic cham­pion, Italy’s Daniele Garozzo, in an incred­ible run to the top of the podium.
Hong Kong ath­letes have won only two other Olympic medals – a sil­ver for Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak in the men’s table ten­nis doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics and track cyc­list Sarah Lee Wai-sze’s bronze in the keirin at the 2012 Lon­don Games. The 34-year-old Lee is a lead­ing medal hope in the sprint and keirin in Tokyo next week.
Asked if he was pre­pared for super­star status back in Hong Kong, Cheung said: “Luck­ily, I’m going straight to China [to com­pete at the National Games] so I can avoid it all. I’m a very shy per­son.”
Cheung also told the younger gen­er­a­tion of fen­cers: “If you work hard and not give up, being an Olympic cham­pion is not just a dream.”
Chief Exec­ut­ive Car­rie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was among the first to con­grat­u­late Cheung.

“Like other Hong Kong res­id­ents, I have fol­lowed closely Cheung’s com­pet­i­tions today through the live broad­cast and rooted for him. Cheung’s skills were superb, he remained com­posed throughout and dis­played fight­ing spirit in times of adversity,” Lam said.
“Ulti­mately, he made his­tory for Hong Kong. His excel­lent per­form­ance demon­strates the strength of our ath­letes and has made all of us proud.”
Fin­an­cial Sec­ret­ary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Face­book: “Con­grat­u­la­tion to Ka-long for claim­ing gold … also Hong Kong’s first gold after the han­dover. Well deserved, the whole of Hong Kong is proud of you!”
Wind­surf­ing queen Lee said: “I am so happy that after 25 years, there is finally another Hong Kong gold medal­list. And I hope there is more to come in Tokyo. We are all very proud of Edgar and Hong Kong people should be proud of him.
“I said when I won gold in Atlanta that ‘Hong Kong ath­letes are not rub­bish’, and Edgar has proved that. Not only him but we have so many ath­letes who work so hard and are top 10 or top 20 in the world and this is something to be proud of.
“Edgar’s gold medal will hope­fully boost Hong Kong sport even more and be the start of a new golden gen­er­a­tion for Hong Kong ath­letes.
“I hope his suc­cess will con­vince the author­it­ies to provide more resources to sport in Hong Kong, with more facil­it­ies. And I hope this shows par­ents that there is a future in sports,” she said.
After clinch­ing the 15-11 win, Cheung embraced his coach, Greg Koenig, and finally let his steely mask slip with an out­pour­ing of emo­tion. “Today he became a man,” Koenig said.
Cheung earlier pro­duced an incred­ible fight­back to beat the Rus­sian Olympic Com­mit­tee’s Kir­ill Boro­d­achev when star­ing at elim­in­a­tion in the quarter-finals, com­ing from the brink of defeat at 14-10 down.

“He is much more mature and stable these days,” said Hong Kong head coach Zheng Kang­zhao after that vic­tory. “He can con­trol his emo­tions now. Before, if he was los­ing by a big mar­gin, he would have just thrown it away. But this time he stayed calm.”
Cheung’s hero­ics raised the spir­its of the Hong Kong camp sky high after two medal hope­fuls fell by the way­side on the open­ing two days of the Games. Fel­low fen­cer Vivian Kong Man-wai suffered a crush­ing loss against the low­est-ranked fen­cer in the indi­vidual épée field on Sat­urday, while Wong Chun-ting and Doo Hoi-kem made a tear­ful exit in the table ten­nis mixed doubles.
Mean­while, Hong Kong swim­ming star Siobhan Haughey made the start she wanted in the pool last night. The 23-year-old cruised through her heat in the women’s 200m free­style and into this morn­ing’s semi-finals.
Haughey, who has been tipped as a medal hope, will also swim in the 50m and 100m free­style races, as well as the med­ley relay.
And the mixed doubles duo of Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying­suet held their nerve to beat Ger­many’s Mark Lams­fuss and Isa­bel Herttrich to pro­gress to the bad­min­ton quarter-finals and a step closer to their dream of an Olympic medal.


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Hong Kong sports

Windsurfer Lee Lai-shan wins Hong Kong’s first Olympic gold in 1996 – SCMP archive

Lee Lai-shan raises her fist in triumph after winning a gold medal in the Olympic women’s windsurfing competition on July 29, 1996. Photo: David Wong

The front page of SCMP’s July 30, 1996 issue. Photo: SCMP

Lee Lai-shan sails to a gold medal finish in the Olympic women’s windsurfing competition. Photo: David Wong

Hong Kong’s Cheung Ka-long looks at his gold medal as he celebrates on podium during the medal ceremony for the men’s individual foil during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 26, 2021. Photo: AFP

The front page of SCMP’s July 27, 2021 issue. Photo: SCMP

Cheung Ka-long of Hong Kong celebrates after winning the men’s foil individual gold madal bout against Daniele Garozzo of Italy. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese NBA star Yao Ming retires from basketball in 2011 – from the SCMP archive

Yao Ming, then playing for the Houston Rockets, makes a free throw during an NBA China Games match against the New Jersey Nets on October 13, 2010. File photo: AFP

Yao Ming stands next to his wife Ye Li and daughter Qin Lei during a news conference to announce his retirement from basketball in Shanghai on July 20, 2011. File photo: Reuters

Yao Ming, then playing for China, reacts at the end of his team’s match against Germany at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. File photo: AP

Cafe de Coral, in 1986, becomes first Hong Kong food chain to go public – SCMP archive

A Cafe de Coral mini-store pictured in 1989. The company was the first Hong Kong restaurant group to go public. Photo: SCMP

Michael Chan Yue-kwong (left), then-managing director of Cafe de Coral, at one of the group’s new mini-stores in 1989. Photo: SCMP

In 1976, earthquake in China’s Tangshan kills over 240,000 people – SCMP archive

Survivors search for their loved ones and belongings on July 30, 1976 among the ruins in Tangshan City after an earthquake struck the city in the early morning of July 28, 1976. Photo: AFP

An aerial view of Tangshan City after an earthquake killed more than 240,000 residents and damaged nearly all the buildings in the city. Photo: AFP

The front page of SCMP’s July 29, 1976 issue. Photo: SCMP

Rescuers try to find survivors in the debris in Tangshan after one of China’s biggest earthquakes in history destroyed the city on July 28, 1996. Photo: China Foto Press

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On this day 30 years ago, Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold. It would take almost exactly 25 years to win another one


On this day 30 years ago, Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold. It would take almost exactly 25 years to win another one.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}On this day 30 years ago, Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold. It would take almost exactly 25 years to win another one

Our golden girl

On this day 30 years ago, Hong Kong won its first Olympic gold. It would take almost exactly 25 years to win another one