As cycling is the SAR’s most successful sport, Lee and her teammates say competing at home adds both excitement and pressure.
Hong Kong cyclists – including household names like Wong Kam-po and Sarah Lee – have won 23 National Games medals, including 10 gold.
Now a rising star, Lee is hoping to carry forward that legacy.
At the age of 20, she stunned the field in 2021, striking gold in the women’s road race in Shaanxi on her debut.
That remains the only road racing gold to date by the Hong Kong’s women’s team at the Games.
But her success on the open roads is not stopping her pursuit on the track, where she will also compete in the track endurance race.
Lee told RTHK she is already looking forward to all the cheers from the home crowd.
“I find it more exciting, especially when the going gets tough. Maybe it’s because of the feeling of being at home – knowing so many people are supporting me and making me feel that I can’t give up,” she said.
“There are times for me to push my limits, and there will also be a bit of pressure, but I mainly tell myself that how others see me isn’t that important. What matters most is focusing on what I need to do,” Lee said.
Also making a double appearance both on the road and the track is Lee’s Paris Olympic teammate, Vincent Lau.
His event was a historic one – the men’s road race will span across Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Lau said the unique, three-location course was an experience in itself.
“You can actually identify three different places. When you’re going from Zhuhai, the road is a different colour,” he said.
The weather was also different along the race path, he said.
“When in Zhuhai, it’s raining, and back in Hong Kong, it’s sunny. And then we go back to Zhuhai, it’s raining again so it’s a fun course and a fun day out riding spanning across so many places.”
Lau also said he feels he has matured enough to deliver on the big stage and aims to get a medal at this year’s event.
However, Hong Kong cycling head coach Herve Dagorne insists that trophies are not the only indicator of success, but also the athlete’s overall performance and the pride they feel from representing the city.
“Sometimes it’s not only the raw result, it’s also, you know, the way you get it because performance is not only the physical aspect, it’s also the technical, physical, psychological and they need to be very good for all those different fields of performance,” he said.
“So the motivation is just like to make enjoying what they are doing and be proud of that. Proud also to wearing every day the Hong Kong China jersey and representing our city.”
The Velodrome in Tseung Kwan O will host five days of track competitions starting on Thursday.
The men’s road race took riders across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, while the women’s race was primarily held in Zhuhai.
