|
Hong Kong’s Olympic medal-winning cyclist Sarah Lee Wai-sze took gold in the women’s keirin at the Asian Games yesterday and said she can’t wait to celebrate—with her 95-year-old grandma. |
Lee, 27, punched the air after she crossed the line, with Malaysia’s Fatehah Binti Mustapa taking silver and China’s Zhong Tianshi winning bronze.
Now Lee, whose form had been in question after an indifferent World Championships, wants to raise a toast with her gran.
“I haven’t seen my family and friends for about two months and I miss them so much,” she said after the race.
“My grandma is already 95 and I always think I won’t get any chance to see her again,” added Lee, who says she will take a short break after the Games before preparing for the World Cup. “I hope I can go back for two or three days’ holiday after this and have dinner with them!”
Lee has been training in South Korea for the past month in preparation for the Incheon meet and splits her time between Hong Kong and mainland China, where she trains.
But despite pining for her loved ones, she said she will not speak to them until after the sprint competition on Thursday, where she is also tipped for gold. “I still have the sprint race, then I’ll call them,” Lee said.
Although she is looking ahead to the Olympics in 2016, Lee said that she still cherishes her Asian Games golds—she won the 500m time trial in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou.
“It’s hard to get gold medals—I’ve only ever taken two and at the last world championships I got nothing, so I’m happy.”
Chinese riders Zhong and Lin Junhong made their move towards the end of the penultimate lap, moving from the back to open a gap at the head of the pack. But Mustapa managed to keep pace and Lee battled into the lead with half-a-lap to go.
Lee became a star in Hong Kong when she won keirin bronze at the 2012 Olympics—the territory’s first cycling medal at a Summer Games, and only its third overall.
She took the world title in that event in 2013, but her form was in doubt after she failed to defend it at the worlds earlier this year, finishing sixth.
Keirin specialist Mustapa, 25, also pulled out a stunning performance against the prolific Chinese riders. “I really wanted a medal, but I didn’t expect that I’d get silver today. I’m really happy to see my coach smile. I knew I had a tough final, but I still took the chance.”
Zhong, 23, who took silver in both the individual and team sprints at this year’s world championships, said she felt “lucky” to get bronze.
China won the men’s team pursuit, beating reigning champions South Korea into silver, with Japan taking bronze.