Latest news with #AsianTrackChampionships
South China Morning Post
21-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong cycling queen Sarah Lee hoping an heir is crowned at National Games
Four years after claiming her second Olympic medal, Sarah Lee Wai-sze has challenged Hong Kong's emerging riders to usher in a new era of cycling success for the city. Advertisement With bronzes from the London 2012 Games and Tokyo in 2021, Lee can legitimately claim to be Hong Kong's greatest cyclist. Now 37, and two years into her retirement, she told the Post: 'My story has gone on too long, it is time for a new name.' Ceci Lee Sze-wing, long tipped as the heiress to Sarah Lee's throne, has delivered a string of promising performances this year, most notably claiming her first continental gold amid a five-medal haul from February's Asian Track Championships. The elder Lee, however, is anticipating a new local cycling star emerging from this year's National Games, with track events being staged at Hong Kong Velodrome for the first time as the city co-hosts with Guangdong and Macau. Ceci Lee training at Hong Kong Velodrome before the Games test event. Photo: Jonathan Wong 'I feel so excited the National Games is going to happen in three [places], and I think it could bring a surprise,' Lee said.
South China Morning Post
27-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong coach tells cyclists to embrace extreme pain or forget major title ambitions
Hong Kong's cyclists must increase their pain thresholds to have any chance of competing for major titles, said head coach Hervé Dagorne. Advertisement The city team won six senior and four junior medals from this month's Asian Track Championships, but Dagorne said his riders would have won more than their one gold had they been prepared to 'go right to the limit'. The gold came for Ceci Lee Sze-wing, in Sunday's scratch race, but Dagorne said the 23-year-old had only herself to blame for not adding a second on Wednesday, after she blew a significant lead to finish second to Mizuki Ikeda in the omnium. 'They all say they did their best, but I don't see any of them vomiting from the effort, or needing to be carried off the track,' Dagorne said. 'I'm not saying they don't go deep into [feeling] pain, but they don't go far enough. 'Our brain has limit alerts telling us to stop when we feel pain. You need to trick your brain, so you create the ability to go deeper. If you feel happy with a silver medal, you won't hurt your body to try for gold. It's down to how much you want it, and never surrendering until the last.' Ceci Lee with her omnium silver medal, which her coach could easily have been a gold. Photo: CAHKC Dagorne, who competed in two Olympics for his native France, said his riders were showing considerable power during intense exercise.
South China Morning Post
23-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Lee claims scratch gold at Asian Track Championships, officials cost Chu medal
Hong Kong cyclist Ceci Lee Sze-wing claimed the first major title of her career on Sunday, winning gold in the scratch race at the Asian Track Championships in Malaysia. Advertisement The 23-year-old's huge career breakthrough changed the mood in the city team's camp, after head coach Herve Dagorne had blasted officials for costing her teammate Chu Tsun-wai a medal in the elimination race 24 hours earlier. Lee upgraded last year's scratch race silver, after a blistering last lap left home rider Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir trailing home in second at the National Velodrome in Nilai. 'She was proactive and made the right decisions and I am glad she got the reward for her positivity,' Dagorne said. On Saturday, Chu had been eliminated with four riders remaining, despite clear evidence that the 23-year-old crossed the cut-off line in front of Bernard Van Aert. Indonesian van Aert went on to claim bronze, behind gold medallist Eiya Hashimoto, of Japan, and Korea's Park Sang-hoon in second. Chu Tsun-wai (light blue) appears to have crossed the elimination race cut-off point ahead of Indonesia's Bernard Van Aert. Photo: Herve Dagorne A furious Dagorne, who used some colourful language to describe the officials, said officials had cost his rider a podium spot.
South China Morning Post
23-02-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Victoria Pendleton says Hong Kong star's Olympic pain can be ‘greatest asset'
Published: 12:00pm, 23 Feb 2025 Ex-world champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton said Ceci Lee Sze-wing's Paris Olympics pain could be the Hong Kong track star's 'greatest asset' over the rest of her career. Wracked with self-doubt when she went to her first Olympics, aged 23, Pendleton was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event and finished 10th in her sprint race. On returning home, she put her Great Britain kit in bin bags and threatened to retire. Lee was also 23 when she froze in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome last summer, finishing 20th out of 22 omnium competitors on her Olympic debut. She subsequently recounted an 'intense and unhappy' experience, believing she had let down head coach Herve Dagorne, and was 'sorry for those who helped me'. Ceci Lee with the Asian Track Championships elimination race silver medal she won on Saturday. Photo: CAHKC Pendleton told the Post her own disappointment left her feeling as though she should 'do them all a favour and quit'.
