Opinion | How Hong Kong Olympians can inspire city still trying to find its way

I don’t know about you, but I am still trying to recover from the amazing first week Hong Kong’s Olympic team had. I’m not just talking about the wreck that is my sleep schedule but the sense of euphoria that is still there.

The city’s new Olympic golden girl, fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai, won Hong Kong’s first women’s fencing medal and the first medal and gold for the city at the Paris Olympics. Kong trailed 7-1 at one point in the women’s individual épée final but made an incredible comeback to win gold. She displayed the kind of mental toughness world-class athletes must have.

Kong’s road to Olympic gold was not an easy one, facing not just Olympic-calibre opponents but serious knee injuries. There was a time when injuring an anterior cruciate ligament would have meant the end of an athlete’s career, and Kong has torn both, the left one in 2017 and the right in 2019. She kept at it and finally took home gold in her third Olympics.

Cheung Ka-long also made history last week, defending his foil gold medal to become the first Olympic fencer in 68 years to come out on top in consecutive Games.

His triumph was not without controversy as the Italian National Olympic Committee filed a formal complaint over the refereeing in the final. Cheung and Filippo Macchi, his Italian opponent, had to replay the final point three times. Many of my friends had said their hearts couldn’t handle it.