appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Paul McNamara

Herve Dagorne has told Hong Kong’s cyclists to embrace the full Olympic experience, after revealing how he repeatedly rubbed shoulders with basketball legend Michael Jordan at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Head coach Dagorne, who was desperately close to a medal in Seoul four years earlier, has substantial Olympic pedigree.
He coached Bryan Coquard to 2012 omnium silver, while in charge of the track cycling team for his native France. In that role, Dagorne was a consultant on the planning and construction of the Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines Velodrome that will be used for this summer’s track events.
Given his competitive history, Dagorne, who was appointed in March, acknowledged it was tough to accept leading a Hong Kong team with no realistic medal hopes this summer.
“I would prefer to say we will compete for medals, but unfortunately [we will] not,” he said. Dagorne nevertheless believed the city’s two riders, Vincent Lau Wan-yau and Ceci Lee Sze-wing, whose medal ambitions belong in Los Angeles in 2028, would draw valuable experience from the Games.

“This week, Ceci was concerned about how she will do,” Dagorne said. “I told her, ‘it is the Olympics, you will forever be an Olympian’. It means something.
“I have an invitation to Olympic House in France. There, we don’t talk about medals – you’re an Olympian. It is like a family, and unique in life.”
Back in 1992, Dagorne and his France track cycling colleagues shared a plane to Barcelona with Jordan’s US basketball Dream Team, who had been training in the south of France and would go on to take gold.
The teams transferred to the Olympic Village on the same bus, and spent hours together during a lengthy accreditation process. The new bonds strengthened when the US and French teams were positioned in proximity for the opening ceremony.
“It was a big experience,” Dagorne said. “There was just French track cycling and American basketball on a small Airbus plane, so we could talk. There was [Jordan’s fellow NBA superstars] Larry Bird and Charles Barkley, too. They were all super-excited to be at their first Olympics.
“We chatted again at the opening ceremony. I was interested in NBA and had lived in the US for a bit, so I talked with [Jordan] about that, and the team’s training in France, as well as basketball in the Olympics.
“I still have good relationships with friends I made from other sports. In the evenings we would talk to other athletes. We thought one Soviet swimmer was telling us he came fourth, but finally we realised he had won four medals.
“I have told our athletes to be open to meeting others after they finish their competitions.”
Dagorne was part of an express French team pursuit quartet that finished fourth at the 1988 Olympics, despite breaking the world record on their first outing. One of his teammates was ill throughout the competition, so would drop out midway through each 4km race, leaving only three riders.
“It was a very big frustration,” Dagorne said. “We broke a world record in qualifying, but two teams [the Soviet Union and Australia] immediately went quicker. It was a really competitive period, with tough guys from the Eastern Bloc.

“We were proud of our performance with only three riders. Our Olympic committee supported us, because we couldn’t turn professional if we wanted to compete in the Olympics. We had a really good programme … unfortunately, we couldn’t get a medal.”
Dagorne’s team placed 11th in Barcelona, before teammate Philippe Ermenault was part of the four who won gold in Atlanta in 1996.
“They are good memories, but from another era,” Dagorne said. “I never talk about it to our athletes, unless they ask. The technology and training have moved on so much – the difference from then is the same as the difference between Seoul and the Berlin Olympics [in 1936].
“I know the pressure and how it feels in the Olympic Village, though, so I can tell the athletes what to take care of. Nothing at the Olympics will surprise me.”


Ex-China volleyballer Wang Yunlu says missing Paris Olympics made her feel like a ‘failure’

Hong Kong’s sports sector helped generate extra HK$46b in value in 2024

Chinese authorities investigating ‘malicious’ cyberbullying of diving star Quan Hongchan

Chinese Taipei boxer Lin Yu-ting takes bronze at Asian championships in competitive return

Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Paris Olympics: how Michael Jordan’s US Dream Team gave Hong Kong coach Games to remember

Michael Jordan of the United States leaps highest to knock away a shot at the 1992 Olympics. Photo: AP

Herve Dagorne (centre) is the head coach of the Hong Kong cycling squad. Photo: Instagram

Magic Johnson (15) of the 1992 US team drives to the basket as Michael Jordan (9) looks on. Photo: Kyodo

Paris Olympics: Hong Kong cyclist Ceci Lee set for twin Games assault, Lau gets road race spot

Ceci Lee’s dominant Hong Kong Championship display secured her road race spot in Paris. Photo: Eugene Lee

Lee is fighting to overcome the self-doubt that is hampering her in the velodrome. Photo: Dickson Lee

Vincent Lau is concerned over the course length for his Olympic Games debut in Paris Photo: SF&OC.

Hong Kong Cycling told to shed small-town mentality, as head coach reveals Olympic talent identification plan

Herve Dagorne is adamant Hong Kong has the capacity to compete with first-rate cycling nations. 

Ceci Lee finished fifth in a world-level elimination race at the UCI Track Nations Cup. Photo: UCI

William Perrett of Great Britain was among the dominant overseas riders at the Hong Kong Track Nations Cup. Photo: Dickson Lee

Cycling bosses want new head coach Herve Dagorne to ‘bring glory to Hong Kong’, Frenchman targeting international medals

Herve Dagorne is Hong Kong cycling’s new head coach, after his team claimed nine medals at February’s Asian Track Championships. 

Ceci Lee is Hong Kong’s sole hope of having a track cyclist at this year’s Olympics. Photo: Handout

Dagorne was in charge of Hong Kong at the team’s home Nations Cup in March. Photo: Dickson Lee

Paris Olympics: why Hong Kong cyclist Ceci Lee faces psychological ‘mountain’ before Games

Ceci Lee is aiming to confront her psychological issues before the Paris Games. Photo: Dickson Lee

Lee stormed to victory in Sunday’s National Road Race Championships to retain her title. Photo: Eugene Lee

Lee struggled with racing in front of an expectant home support in March’s Track Nations Cup. Photo: Dickson Lee

Sport

Outdoor

Paris Olympics 2024

Hong Kong

City’s cycling head coach was at the 1992 Olympics as an athlete when he met the basketball legends at the Barcelona Games


City’s cycling head coach was at the 1992 Olympics as an athlete when he met the basketball legends at the Barcelona Games.


Vincent Lau Wan-yau

Ceci Lee Sze-wing

Paris Olympics: how Michael Jordan’s US Dream Team gave Hong Kong coach Games to remember

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}City’s cycling head coach was at the 1992 Olympics as an athlete when he met the basketball legends at the Barcelona Games

City’s cycling head coach was at the 1992 Olympics as an athlete when he met the basketball legends at the Barcelona Games