Asian Games: Hong Kong Olympian Sarah Lee dropped as elite athlete as retirement rumours swirl, will not race in Hangzhou
- Sources say double Olympic bronze medallist has effectively retired and is now concentrating on her degree at Baptist University
- The 35-year-old only raced twice internationally in 2022 and has not competed for almost 10 months
Sarah Lee Wai-sze has been dropped from Hong Kong’s list of elite athletes amid rumours the 35-year-old Olympian has finally decided to retire.
The track cycling star, who won bronze medals at the London and Tokyo Olympics, will also not compete at the Asian Games later this year.
Despite not responding to multiple requests to confirm her retirement, sources said Lee’s decision not to have any races on her calendar and focus on her degree at Baptist University pointed to the end of a glittering career.
“She wants to keep a low profile of her future but definitely not to continue her sporting career,” a source said. “She once said she would like to compete in the Asian Games in Hangzhou this summer, but as you can see she has a blank competition list for almost 10 months which tells you her intention.”
Lee has reportedly eyed becoming a coach, and a source close to the Cycling Association said the cyclist had been working with some of the young riders in the Hong Kong team.
“We think she will continue in the field most likely as a coach, especially as head coach Shen Jinkang is going to retire after the Hangzhou Asian Games,” the source said.
Hong Kong team will send a squad of six riders to the last Nations Cup of the year in Milton, Canada next week and with Lee missing, Yeung Cho-yiu will race in the sprint and keirin events.
While cycling bosses are not required to submit their squad for the Games in September to the city’s Olympic Committee until the end of this month, and can be revised up until July, the source said without training Lee would be in no form to compete.
“After all, she is not young any more and it takes a lot more hard work and time before she can compete again, especially in sprinting events which require a lot of power and energy,” the source said.
After winning her second Olympic bronze medal in Japan in 2021, Lee only competed twice last year in the Nations Cup in Colombia and the following Japan Cup, a Class I event, both in July.
She came 12th in the sprint and was forth in the keirin in Cali, but won the keirin and came second in the sprint in Izu where the Tokyo Olympics took place. Since then, she has been focusing on her studies and seldom attends training.
A new list of the institutes scholarship athletes is expected to be published in April when the financial year begins.
“We are updating the list as there are changes of athletes involving some 20 tier A, six tier B and para sports,” an Institute spokesman said. “At the moment, the information are update as of March 29 and hopefully we can provide the latest version for the new financial year by early next month.”
Once Lee officially retires she becomes eligible for HK$1 million in retirement money as an elite athlete who has served at least 12 years.
The spirited rider first surged to prominence when she lifted a 2010 Asian Games gold medal in the 500-metre time trial in Guangzhou, before snatching a keirin bronze at the 2012 London Olympics.
She won her first world championship gold, also in the time trial, at the 2013 Worlds in Minsk, Belarus and clinched a double gold, sprint and keirin, at the 2019 Worlds in Poland.
In between, she won a double gold in the sprint and keirin at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and successfully defended the two titles in Jakarta four years later.
She was said to be hitting her best form in 2020 with Tokyo Olympic golds in the sprint and keirin her prime target, but coronavirus pandemic forced the Games to be postponed for a year, and she managed only a sprint bronze in 2021.
