For love of the game: why some athletes chase impossible Olympic dreams
Some of the city’s best will never reach an Olympics, let alone a podium, so why do they continue to train as hard as those who do
When lacrosse returns to the Olympic Games in 2028 after more than a century away, it is unlikely that Hong Kong will be involved in any capacity other than watching.
Just 12 teams – six in the men’s competition, six in the women’s – will take part in the shortened sixes format of the sport in Los Angeles, and Hong Kong’s sides, ranked 13th and 21st in the world, respectively, in the 10s version, are some way off breaking into the rarefied air occupied by those who will battle for gold.
There is only a slightly better chance of reaching next year’s World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, and even then, that will need a top-five finish at October’s regional championships in Australia.
In that context, the city’s players might be forgiven if they struggled to muster the motivation to carry on in the face of such overwhelming odds, and yet they do and with a hunger that would surprise many.
“Watching the Olympics since I was little, and it always felt so far away, if not impossible,” Sally Tang Yi-ting, the women’s team captain, said. “It’s like a golden challenge or target for any athlete.
“Yes, that’s a long road ahead for us, but no matter how far the target is, it’s something for us to work hard for, and it’s worth it to shed our sweat.”