Hong Kong’s three athletes produced one of their worst results “for a long time” at the youth and under-23 championships last weekend, and top team head coach Andrew Wright believes the city’s training policies are to blame.
The city’s squad managed just one medal from a series of races in Wan Chai, and ahead of Saturday’s World Cup stop in Haikou, a “very disappointed” Wright said he hoped the small showing would be a catalyst for change in the Hong Kong Triathlon Association, China.
Hong Kong claimed mixed bronze, but fifth-placed Cade Wright and sixth-placed Nick Yip Tak-long were the best female and male performers under 23 respectively.
Andy Wong Nok-hei, meanwhile, finished fourth in the junior men’s race, after competing in the school’s 5km race three days earlier.
“The race burned him (Wong) … from two weeks before the big championships we have to tell the schools they have to withdraw the athletes,” Wright said, adding the 18-year-old had been sent to “a lot of international competitions” last year.
According to Wright, the unnecessary travel, combined with many home events, meant that the training of the young athletes was difficult and as a result they “can’t perform at their best when it comes down to it”.
