The Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 has just ended, not long after the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Hong Kong athletes have shown remarkable achievements at both Olympic Games. Aside from the Olympics, Hong Kong athletes continue their winning streak and among them is ITC alumna Ms Wong Hiu-ying Angel (BA, 2010) who won a bronze medal for the balance beam event at the 14th Taishan Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar on 5 March 2022. She is the first athlete on the Hong Kong team who is a medal winner at this level of international competition.
Blood, sweat and tears of a star athlete
Angel has been involved with gymnastics since she was 4 years old. At first, it was just for fun, and little Angel never thought that she would be an athlete until she turned 11 years old and returned from Australia to Hong Kong . She continued her training in a gymnastics class with the Hong Kong Gymnastics Federation and was chosen as a member of the Hong Kong team.
After joining the Hong Kong team, training took up most of Angel’s time. Every day, she trained hard after school for four hours until 8:30 p.m. This training regime showed her passion and dedication for gymnastics.
First Hong Kong gymnast to qualify for the Olympics
No one in Hong Kong has ever been shortlisted for the Olympics gymnastics competition until the London Olympics in 2012, when Mr Shek Wai-hung and Angel were chosen to participate in the games. The London Olympics was definitely a breakthrough for Hong Kong gymnastics. Not only were there two Hong Kong athletes performing on the gymnastics stage for the first time, but Angel even labeled her jump and became the first Hong Kong athlete in the history of gymnastics to receive such naming rights. “I haven’t seen anyone tried this 'Angel Jump' in any official competition yet, only some video clips on Instagram that show others practicing the move,” Angel said.
Missed Rio Olympics due to injury
One of the worst fears of athletes is to sustain an injury, especially before a major competition. When Angel was busy practicing in 2015 for Olympic Games Rio 2016, she severely injured her left knee, which affected several ligaments of her knee joint. She had to undergo two operations and required a long period of recovery which forced her miss the games.
Even though she is not as young as the other athletes and had been injured multiple times, she was still very determined to stay on the team. In 2019, she returned to the World Cup Competition.
Starting all over again and succeeding
At the age of 34, Angel described standing on the award podium as one of the important moments in her life, especially after several surgeries. “After many injuries and surgeries, the long recovery process has been full of struggles. The epidemic also affects training and competition since some of the team members have tested positive. Anyway, I just want everyone to finish the games safely.” Angel also said that the medal is proof of her abilities, which has also motivated her to continue to improve her performance. She hopes to compete in the Asian Games again in September this year.
Applying knowledge learnt from ITC
Aside from gymnastics, Angel is also a talented designer. An ITC graduate, she majored in fashion and textile design. She then applied the knowledge into designing and constructing her costume for the London Olympics.
Photo credit: Angel's Instagram page and The Gymnastics Association of Hong Kong, China
