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Paul McNamara

Ex-world champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton said Ceci Lee Sze-wing’s Paris Olympics pain could be the Hong Kong track star’s “greatest asset” over the rest of her career.
Wracked with self-doubt when she went to her first Olympics, aged 23, Pendleton was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event and finished 10th in her sprint race.
On returning home, she put her Great Britain kit in bin bags and threatened to retire.
Lee was also 23 when she froze in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome last summer, finishing 20th out of 22 omnium competitors on her Olympic debut.
She subsequently recounted an “intense and unhappy” experience, believing she had let down head coach Herve Dagorne, and was “sorry for those who helped me”.

Pendleton told the Post her own disappointment left her feeling as though she should “do them all a favour and quit”.
“Changing your mindset takes intervention from someone you trust and who has the skill to help you with your thought processes and negative feelings,” she added. “The pain and disappointment I felt, and how disappointing I felt [in 2004] ultimately made me. I never wanted to feel that bad again.
“Speaking to Ceci, I would say, ‘this is going to be your greatest asset’. It has to hurt, because if it hurts, you fight to avoid it happening again for the rest of your days. I wish her all the best and I hope [Paris] is her greatest motivation.”
A nine-time world champion, two-time Olympic champion, European and Commonwealth champion, Pendleton said she never discarded the fear of letting down others during her decorated career. The Olympic gold medals she won in 2008 and 2012 provided relief rather than joy.
“So many people have invested in your performance that it’s very hard to not feel expectation,” she said. “It’s bigger than you … you want to deliver for your country. There is so much pressure that it’s hard to feel pure joy.”
Pendleton said the renowned psychiatrist, Steve Peters, helped her “gain perspective”.
“You lose perspective in sport, you feel like you’re going to war,” she said. “It’s brutal, but it’s entertainment.”
The Briton’s London gold came in the keirin discipline, where Sarah Lee Wai-sze claimed bronze, a feat the Hongkonger replicated in the 2020 Olympics sprint event.
Now 44, Pendleton, who competed as a jump jockey at the 2016 Cheltenham Festival and has tackled multiple endurance challenges since retirement, said she had never overcome the disappointment of finishing second in what would be her last competitive race – the 2012 Olympic sprint final.
“I was devastated and I still feel very dissatisfied with myself and my performance,” Pendleton said. “That mindset is probably why I had such a consistent career. I have learned to live with that disappointment, but it’s why I continue to push myself with new challenges.”
Pendleton said Ceci Lee’s slender frame was perfect for omnium racing. Along with her Hong Kong teammates, Lee, who claimed elimination race silver at Malaysia’s Asian Track Championships on Saturday, is now regularly training and racing abroad, under the guidance of Dagorne.
“Later in my career I would arrive at races and know I’d beaten everyone on the start line [because of consistent competition],” Pendleton said. “I was training with [British male Olympic champions] Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Queally and knew whether the gap to them was decreasing. It would have been hard to have success without that benchmark.”
Pendleton, who was in Causeway Bay on Friday at the Laureus Sport for Good Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, said she had been criticised for speaking openly about her episodes of poor mental health as an elite athlete.
“There is less of a stigma today because more people talk about the pressure and expectation in elite sport,” Pendleton said.
“I was emotional … but I hope anyone struggling [mentally] can take strength from the fact I won as consistently as any top rider. You don’t have to be a robot to win.
“I wanted it so much, but if it doesn’t get you inside, existing in that environment is really hard. You have to care enough to put yourself through that suffering.”


Victoria Pendleton says Ceci Lee’s Olympic pain can be Hong Kong star’s ‘greatest asset’

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Hong Kong sports

Pendleton won two Olympic gold medals but felt more relief than joy after her major successes. Photo: Laureus

Ceci Lee with the Asian Track Championships elimination race silver medal she won on Saturday. Photo: CAHKC

Hong Kong athletes ‘luckiest in the world’, says leading long jumper with new Olympic goal

Theo Chan is confident Hong Kong athletics is heading in the right direction.

Theo Chan on the podium after claiming silver at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships.

Theo Chan is aiming to compete in his second Olympics in Los Angeles.

Sean Dyche praises Everton stint, pleased with resurgence under replacement David Moyes

Sean Dyche takes part in the Laureus Sport for Good Mental Health and Wellbeing Forum, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, at the Park Lane Hotel in Hong Kong. Photo: Laureus

Sean Dyche was Everton boss for two years, before leaving the club in January. Photo: AFP

Sean Dyche’s friend, David Moyes, was appointed Everton boss following the ex-Burnley manager’s exit. Photo: AFP

Sport

Hong Kong

British track cycling great says her own Olympic low was responsible for a successful career because, ‘I never wanted to feel that bad again’


British track cycling great says her own Olympic low was responsible for a successful career because, ‘I never wanted to feel that bad again’.
