Teenage rider Lee Sze-wing can be Hong Kong’s future star, says coach Shen Jinkang
- The 18-year-old takes part in her first home event in the Hong Kong leg of the World Cup series at Tseung Kwan O Velodrome
- The talented young rider hopes to take over from superstar rider Sarah Lee one day
She has often been compared to superstar Sarah Lee Wai-sze but Lee Sze-wing knows she has a long way to go before she can become the queen of Hong Kong cycling.
Lee Sze-wing is one of the youngest riders to enter the World Cup series and she will have plenty of home admirers when she takes to the track at Tseung Kwan O Velodrome this weekend.
The 18-year-old has already taken part in the first two rounds of the season in Minsk and Glasgow this month and head coach Shen Jinkang thinks she can be extremely successful in the sport, going as far as saying she could become the one rider who could take up the baton once Sarah Lee retires from the sport.
“She can be the star rider of the next generation if she continues to progress the way she has,” said Shen. “She is brave on the track and has a tough mental attitude and she has developed a good foundation in the sport since her junior days. Our women’s endurance team are working hard for the 2020 Olympic qualification and Lee Sze-wing is part of the team but it is too early to say if the youngster can go to the Tokyo Games.
“We have to wait until the end of the qualification in March [after the World Championships in Berlin] to see if the team can book their ticket. We will then decide who can go to Tokyo through open selections. But the young rider [Lee Sze-wing] will benefit a lot from taking part in the qualification campaign as the magnitude and the exposure of the World Series will be pivotal to her future in the sport.”
