Ceci Lee left to shoulder Hong Kong’s hopes of more cycling gold after bad day at track
Road race gold medallist Ceci Lee returns to the fray this weekend with teammates having struggled at the city’s Velodrome
Hong Kong hopes of winning any more medals in cycling appear increasingly likely to rest on the slender shoulders of Ceci Lee Sze-wing, after another bad day at the track on Friday.
Following a barren opening day, when none of the city teams progressed from qualifying, it was more of the same in the early session at the Hong Kong Velodrome.
Yeung Cho-yiu and Ching Yin-shan occupied the bottom two positions following the women’s 250 metres time trial qualifying, while in the opening round of the men’s sprint, where 24 of the 27 riders advanced, the home trio of Yung Tsun-ho, To Cheuk-hei and Ng Po-li were 25th, 26th and 27th, respectively.
Henan, however, continued to reign supreme and added golds in the women’s team pursuit and 250m time trial to the two team sprint prizes they captured on Thursday.
Olympic gold medallist Bao Shanju is retiring after the Games, and bowed out with the time trial title after “barely sleeping” the night before.
“I struggled badly in yesterday’s team sprint, which put so much more pressure on me,” Bao said. “But when I arrived at the venue today, my coach Guo Shuang’s words completely ignited me.