From roller skates to Olympic ice, Hongkonger Darren Kwok’s dream runs to Milano-Cortina
Hong Kong skater is training in South Korea and ‘borrowing’ their best techniques in hope of producing his ‘top performance’ at Winter Games
Four years ago, Darren Kwok Tsz-fung watched from the sidelines at the Beijing Winter Olympics as a reserve skater, dreaming of one day joining the world’s best on the Olympic stage. That dream will become reality next month when he represents Hong Kong at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
“When I met those top athletes four years ago, I could only dream of competing against them,” Kwok, 21, said. “Now that dream is coming true, and I’m thrilled for the Games ahead.”
His qualification also extends Hong Kong’s Olympic presence in short-track speedskating, with teammate Joey Lam Ching-yan set to compete in the women’s 1,500m event – marking the first time the city will have skaters across three events at the Olympics.
Kwok said his goal was simple: to perform his best on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I want to deliver everything I’ve trained for and produce my top performance at the Olympics,” Kwok said. “The Winter Games come with huge pressure due to its high attention, but I will fine-tune my technique before the competition and stay flexible with strategies depending on my opponents.”