Skiers? Curlers? Hong Kong has them as it names its largest ever Asian Winter Games team
Speed skaters and ice hockey players also among those travelling to Harbin, seeking an elusive first medal for the city
Hong Kong will send its largest delegation yet to an Asian Winter Games next month, with 74 athletes, competing in five different sports, set to represent the city in Harbin.
There are several Olympians and junior Olympians among those who will head to mainland China’s northeast, including short-track speed skater Sidney Chu, and alpine skiers Adrian Yung Hau-tsuen, Lucas Wong Chi-hao and Aerin King.
That quartet mirror the healthy mix of youth and experience throughout the squad, with the ageless Adrienne May Li still chasing a puck around as captain of the women’s ice hockey team, while Hong Kong will send a curling team to a Games for the first time.
Chu leads a team of speed skaters who have already had the chance to test themselves against the best this winter, with the likes of Lam Ching-yan competing in the women’s 500, 1,000, and 1,500 metres in the Short Track World Tour and ISU Four Continents Short Track Speed Skating Championships.
What success looks like largely depends on whether medals are the only things that matter.
According to chef de mission Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, the sheer size of the delegation, which was almost equally split between men and women, was an achievement in itself.
