Hong Kong’s Lee Wai Sze scores surprise win in 500-meter TT at Asian Games
- By Agence France Presse
- Published Nov. 13, 2010
Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong pulled off an upset in the opening round of track racing at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, snatching victory in the 500-meter time trial from defending champion and favorite Guo Shuang.
The 29-year-old Lee, the top ranked track cyclist in the time trial, individual sprint, keirin and team sprint disciplines, set a new Asian record of 33.945 seconds at the Guangzhou velodrome.
“I have been longing for this medal,” said Lee. “I have been turning in good performances on a daily basis in training.”
Her coach Shen Jinkang admitted that Guo endured an off day in the saddle.
“She didn’t perform well in the first half of the first lap,” said the coach. “If she had put in her normal performance she would have got gold, not Lee.”
From a standing start on her aerodynamically streamlined bike, Lee powered through the two laps of the track to pile the pressure on Guo, who started last of the 10 competitors.
It proved to be too much for the home favorite, who won Olympic bronze in the sprint at the Beijing Games after the time trial was scrapped to make way for BMX.
The Chinese rider, who had trumped Lee for the Asian Championships title in Sharjah this year, finished 0.207sec off the pace for silver, with Hsiao Mei Yu of Taiwan taking bronze at 1.495sec.
Guo insisted, however, that she had not been put off by Lee’s record breaking ride.
“I wasn’t affected by her breaking the record,” the 24-year-old said. “Anyway, I can only control my performance; I cannot control what others do. I was a little slow in the first lap, but it didn’t have much influence (on the result).”
Bronze medalist Hsiao said she was delighted with having set a personal best, but was slightly put out given how good the track had raced.
“I didn’t let my coach down. I’m happy to get a medal,” she said. “The first time I saw my result I was a little bit disappointed, but after seeing Kim Wongyeong’s result (35.801), I thought I might be able to get a a different medal.”
There was disappointment for Japanese teenager Kayono Maeda, ranked third in the world in the discipline by the sport’s governing body, the UCI, as she could only manage 36.033sec.
There are nine more gold medals up for grabs, with men going in six disciplines (sprint, team sprint, individual pursuit, team pursuit, Keirin, point race) and the women in three others (sprint, individual pursuit, point race).