Ceci Lee Sze-wing crowned herself the undisputed queen of Hong Kong cycling on Monday, adding a historic third gold medal to her 15th National Games collection, moments after Siobhan Haughey had won two bronze in as many minutes.
The pair shone brightest on a day of mixed results for the city’s athletes, as Coleman Wong Chak-lam, who has yet to lose a set, eased into the quarter-finals of the men’s singles tennis, Angus Ng Ka-long bowed out of the badminton in his third – and probably last – Games, and the fencers all missed out.
It was the women who dominated the day, none more so than the 24-year-old Lee, who is quickly living up to – and even surpassing – the high standards set by her predecessor, Sarah Lee Wai-sze.
While Sarah Lee has two Olympic bronze medals to her name, she has only two National Games gold medals and they came four years apart. Ceci Lee now has four, in the road race in 2021 and this year, the Madison and on Monday the omnium. And no Hongkonger has ever won three at the same event.
“I hope some young girls are inspired and want to do what she’s done,” Herve Dargone, the cycling team’s head coach, said.
“She is a great image for Hong Kong. She is a nice person, she is real and true. She cried last year [at the Paris Olympics], then had the happiness today. This is a very inspiring image for cycling in Hong Kong.”