Olympian Theo Chan Ming-tai said well-funded Hong Kong athletes were “the luckiest in the world” and he had no complaints being given an ultimatum to retain healthy support from the city’s sports institute.
The long jumper set his city record leap of 8.12 metres in 2016, the same year as his “magical” introduction to elite sport, when he finished 17th in Rio as a 21-year-old wild-card competitor.
But Chan then altered his technique to manage injury concerns, with the help of Randy Huntington, the former coach of 8.95m world record holder Mike Powell, and frustration followed.
“I felt like it wasn’t me [jumping] any more,” Chan said. “The first year, 2018, was terrible, I couldn’t even run.”
In early 2022, when he had not managed 8m since his 2017 Asian Championships silver medal jump of 8.03m, Chan was told he had until the beginning of July to jump 8m or the Hong Kong Sports Institute “wouldn’t support me any more”.
“I had no complaints … it’s taxpayers’ money and you can’t waste it.” Chan said. “Hong Kong athletes are the luckiest in the world. Someone my level, in the UK, wouldn’t receive the budget to go overseas, or the same access to training facilities, nutrition, and medical and psychological support.”
