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Paul McNamara

After a protracted period of being stalked by injury and illness, Bailee Brown is “100 per cent” fit for an assault on Asian Games glory this month, but teammate Robin Elg is training alone as he grits his teeth through a stubborn shin complaint to race in Japan.
A mixed relay bronze medallist in 2018 and 2023, Brown required four surgeries on a badly broken finger following a trail running fall in December 2024. Months earlier, she suffered from an E coli infection and norovirus, while more recently Brown was laid low by a bone stress problem.
“She’s showing no signs of having any issues and is back on a full run programme,” Andrew Wright, the Hong Kong head coach, said.
“As these guys get older, they’re able to [mentally] cope better with setbacks. Everyone at a high level is dealing with something, you just don’t always hear about it.”
The situation for Elg is far more complicated. Following the National Games last November, when he was part of Hong Kong’s silver medal mixed-relay team, Elg was diagnosed with a stress problem in a fibula.
“We’ve not been able to shift it, no matter what tactic we’ve tried, or which intervention we’ve used,” Wright said. “This thing is just persistently there.”

While his teammates had a 4½-week altitude camp in mainland province Yunnan, before transferring to their current Thailand base, Elg has stayed in Hong Kong to use an AlterG Anti-Gravity treadmill, which allows him to run at a lower percentage of his body weight and minimise impact on the offending bone.
Wright said Elg was “running big sessions that will translate nicely onto the road”, but acknowledged that the combination of being isolated from teammates, and having no answer for his leg pain, had been “extremely difficult” for the athlete.
“It’s very up and down in terms of mental health when you’re going through injury and not with your team, but he has a very good support network around him,” said Wright, adding that if Elg was ever “feeling so overwhelmed that he couldn’t handle it” he would immediately join the city squad overseas.
“We haven’t really thought too much beyond the Asian Games, because I don’t think it’s necessarily useful when there are so many unknowns,” Wright said.
Wright has finally been granted his wish for a concerted unbroken training block with Cade and Tallulah Wright, the twins who will join Brown in the Hong Kong women’s team in Japan, and who are no relation to the coach.
Tallulah Wright finished her international relations degree this summer, while Cade has one more year of her mathematics degree remaining.
“It’s been massive to have them with us, and we’re at a stage where none of the athletes have been this fit,” Andrew Wright said.
“They’ve never operated on such a professional level, and I’m really glad to see it. It’s not that common in Hong Kong to get people to this stage.”
Andrew Wright said long-time stand-out Brown was profiting from the sisters beginning to compete on her level.
“You don’t want to be far better than anyone else and not have that positive pressure, because you don’t get the best out of yourself in those conditions,” he said.
“It’s a big problem in Hong Kong where there’s nobody coming up and putting pressure on these guys, then they’re subconsciously too comfortable in their position as the best in the team.”
After the Games mixed-relay on September 21, Cade Wright will dash from Nagoya to Spain to compete in the under-23 World Championships four days later.

“It doesn’t help Olympic qualification, but there are some races where if an athlete really wants to do them, there’s value in it,” Andrew Wright said.
Looking forward to Los Angeles in two years, Wright said it was a “one hundred per cent realistic” prospect that Oscar Coggins, his leading male, could claim Asian Games gold and book his Olympic spot. Coggins finished 33rd in the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“He’s been flawless the entire year, and he’s operating like a world-class athlete,” Wright said.
“It’s amazing to see and to be around every day, and very inspiring. It’s going to be the hardest Asian Games by a long way, but I’ve never seen him this fast across all three disciplines. We’re aiming for the top spot, for sure.”
Two high-profile city triathletes not in the Asian Games team, Jason Ng Tai-long and Hilda Choi Yan-yin, are training in Hong Kong with a view to qualifying for November’s Asia Triathlon Sprint Championships in Jordan.


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Bailee Brown (right) and Robin Elg, here at the Asian Triathlon Under-23 and Junior Championships, are at different levels of fitness ahead of the Asian Games. Photo: Asian Triathlon U23/Junior Championships

Hong Kong’s Bailee Brown is back on a full run programme ahead of the Asian Games. Photo: SF&OC

Hong Kong’s Robin Elg is still dealing with a stress problem in a fibula. Photo: Eugene Lee

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Pedrey Ng back in 2018 when she was a more emotional competitor. Photo: Kelly Ho

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Sport

Hong Kong

Hong Kong head coach Andrew Wright also states that Oscar Coggins could claim gold in Japan and book his Olympic spot


Hong Kong head coach Andrew Wright also states that Oscar Coggins could claim gold in Japan and book his Olympic spot.


Asian Games: triathlete Brown ready for assault on glory, questions remain over Elg’s fitness

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong head coach Andrew Wright also states that Oscar Coggins could claim gold in Japan and book his Olympic spot

Hong Kong head coach Andrew Wright also states that Oscar Coggins could claim gold in Japan and book his Olympic spot