Hong Kong's Cheung Chi-yip knows what it takes to become a world-class judoka but cannot take that risk unless his future is secured.
Cheung, 25, a full-time fireman, made his Olympic debut yesterday and the experience was short. He lasted three-and-a-half minutes in his under-73 kilogram first-round match, losing by a waza-ari to American Nicholas Delpopolo at the ExCel arena.
'My fitness level dropped dramatically after one third of the match and it was difficult matching my opponent's pace,' Cheung said. 'This is because I can only afford to train a third of the time of a full-time athlete.
'I already commit all of my rest time to training and have little personal time. I cannot risk giving up my full-time job for full-time training. I still have to support my family, and a fireman's job also gives me a secure future which you cannot find in sport.'
The chairman of the Hong Kong Judo Association, Wong Po-kei said Cheung was the best athlete in Hong Kong but he needed to climb to another level before he could become a truly world-class athlete. And that meant going abroad to find better training opponents and competition, he said.
'Judo is a combat sport and you need people to train with in order to get progress,' Wong said.
'Cheung is already the best in Hong Kong but he can't find anyone to train with and needs to go overseas for more regular training and competitions.
