Christy Yiu completes half her mission despite shattering Hong Kong record at World Half Marathon Championships
- Yiu finishes 49th out of 105 starters in Poland in her first race for almost a year due to the pandemic
- Tokyo Olympic hopeful targets one hour and 11 minutes, but difficult beach finish restricts her to 1:12:10
Long distance runner Christy Yiu Kit-ching completed only half her mission despite shattering her Hong Kong half marathon record at the world championships in Poland last week, in her first race for almost a year.
Racing in the Baltic city of Gdynia, the 32-year-old came 49th out of the 105 starters with a time of one hour 12 minutes and 10 seconds, shaving more than 40 seconds off her previous best set in Tokyo last year.
“My target was to break into one hour and 11 minutes, which means I had to run at least 10 seconds faster,” said Yiu, who has now returned to Hong Kong and undergoing her 14-day quarantine in a hotel.
“It was close but the last few 100 metres was difficult as we were running on the beach and not flat road. I tried to dash for the finish but didn’t raise my legs enough.
“Although I couldn’t reach my target, it was my first race for almost a year and considering I set a new Hong Kong record after such a long absence, it’s still an encouraging result and hopefully I can keep improving and make it to the Tokyo Games next summer.”