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Stephy Zhang

Hong Kong wushu athlete Lydia Sham Hui-yu said a gruelling training schedule allowed her to deliver on an Asian Games gold medal pledge she made to her idol, Exo boy band member Kai.
On Tuesday, after winning the women’s changquan event to secure Hong Kong’s first gold of the Asian Games, the 26-year-old posted a video on social media sharing the medal ceremony and tagging the official accounts of South Korean boy band Exo and Kai.
“I kept the promise I made to Kim Jong-in [Kai] at the fan sign [event] in July! I trained frantically just to make this happen,” she wrote in her caption.
The video showed Sham meeting the K-pop star at a fan event, where Kai asked if performing the crown gesture from the band’s song “Crown” would help her win gold.
Sham replied, “I’ll try my best” before Kai performed his signature crown dance move.
The video then cut to Sham stepping on to the top of the podium, accompanied by English and Korean subtitles reading: “I kept my promise! I really got gold!”
A day after posting the video, it had accumulated over 114,000 likes.












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A post shared by Lydia🤍魚🐟🦈 (@lydia_sham)



As a devoted fan of the band, Sham added that Exo had inspired her immensely, declaring she had reached the “pinnacle of fan success” by winning gold after meeting her idol.
Sham said that a major reason she pursued a career as a professional athlete was seeing Exo perform on stage at a previous Asian Games.
“It all started when they performed at the 2014 Asian Games opening ceremony – 12 years later, I stepped onto the podium!” she wrote.
“Throughout my 13 years as a fan, I kept practising hard to get a chance to introduce myself to Exo in person and thank them for giving me the strength to grow stronger.”
At the end of the video, Sham added that her competition outfit featured hexagonal patterns reminiscent of Exo’s logo.
Following the popularity of her social media video, Sham revealed on Tuesday afternoon she had been interviewed by South Korean broadcaster SBS, writing it was surreal to appear on television in South Korea.
“It’s so crazy, am I dreaming?” she wrote. “The SBS interview was insane. Recording a direct message to Exo was also crazy! Unlocked my first Korean interview, scared me to death. I’m going to faint; I have zero regrets in my fan journey!”

Sham shared an update on Wednesday to let her followers know that SBS had informed her that Exo members were aware of her story.
Following her victory, Sham also shared a photo holding her gold medal while displaying her Asian Games-themed nail art, captioned: “Showing off nail art this way beats 99.9 per cent of people! Thanks everyone for the support!” a post that was also widely popular.
The wushu medal at this year’s event was the first for Sham across three editions of the Asian Games.
Sham scored 9.713 points in the women’s changquan event at Aichi Prefectural Budokan on Monday, narrowly beating Macau’s Sou Cho-man, who scored 9.710.
The Hongkonger won by just 0.003 points, with only 0.010 points separating the top four finishers.
Indonesia’s Eugenia Diva Widodo placed third with 9.706, followed by Iran’s Zahra Kiani with 9.703.
Sham was one of the city’s flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the Games, along with basketball player Ivan Yang, and she is eligible for a HK$1 million cash reward for her individual gold medal under the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme.


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Lydia Sham wins the women’s changquan event to secure Hong Kong’s first gold of the Asian Games Photo: Facebook/SF&OC 

The Asian Games gold medallist was also interviewed by a South Korean TV channel. Photo: Threads/lydia_sham

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The 26-year-old attended a fan event where she met the K-pop star and says she became a professional athlete after seeing the band perform


The 26-year-old attended a fan event where she met the K-pop star and says she became a professional athlete after seeing the band perform.


Lydia Sham Hui-yu

Hong Kong’s Lydia Sham delivers on golden Asian Games promise to Exo member Kai

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The 26-year-old attended a fan event where she met the K-pop star and says she became a professional athlete after seeing the band perform

The 26-year-old attended a fan event where she met the K-pop star and says she became a professional athlete after seeing the band perform