Tenacious windsurfer Hayley Chan Hei-man is preparing to make a giant aquatic leap for Hong Kong and take up kitesurfing so she can compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
With her RS-X discipline facing the Olympic axe, the medal-hungry Hong Kong University student declared her contingency plan within hours of narrowly missing a medal-race place at the sailing regatta.
'I will look at kitesurfing because the racing formula is quite similar to the windsurfing format. I don't think it will be too hard to change over. Many competing windsurfing girls my age are also taking up kitesurfing,' said the 21-year old, who overcame serious injuries to compete in her first Olympics.
The International Sailing Federation dropped a bombshell when it stated the sport - which brought Hong Kong its historic 1996 Atlanta gold medal thanks to Lee Lai-shan - would make way for kitesurf ing.
The decision sparked anger around the world and a legal appeal has been lodged by the RS-X Class with the High Court in London. 'The opinion of our legal team is that the decision was perverse and unfair and so we issued a claim in the High Court in London for the decision to be judicially reviewed,' said a RS-X class spokesman.
Sailing officials are to meet again in November when another vote could take place - but the future of the discipline remains in doubt and competitive windsurfers are hedging their bets.
