Hong Kong’s first Olympic gymnast Hiu Ying Angel Wong, who placed 52nd in qualifications at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, will return to competition this weekend after nearly two years away from the sport.
Wong, 29, last competed at a challenge cup in May of 2015, where she finished eighth and sixth in the vault and beam finals, respectively. That summer, she was planning on competing at both Universiade and the Asian Championships, but her coach feared that she would contract MERS in South Korea and withdrew the Hong Kong team from Universiade. Then, right before Asian Championships, she injured her knee, seriously enough that it kept her out of worlds later that fall, meaning she was unable to qualify for her second Olympics.
Surgery and rehab after tearing pretty much everything there was to tear in her knee meant no training for about a year, but she started flipping again this past September, playing it safe to keep her knee from further harm. Now, she’s planning to start this quad out on a high note, planning her return to competition on beam at this weekend’s Hong Kong Open Championships.
The competition will see mostly junior and novice gymnasts, with Wong joined by only three other seniors, none of whom is quite at her level. It’s not a huge meet, but it’s an important first step in her comeback.
Turning 30 this year, Wong will be 34 for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, so she’d have the odds stacked against her even if fully healthy, but we love her style on beam as well as her phenomenal barani beam mount, an F skill named for her in the code of points. We’re excited she’s back and hope her return is successful!
A full list of competitors is below. The gymnasts will compete over the weekend, with events scheduled for both the 14th and 15th.
SENIOR WOMEN | |
Kam Hiu Lam Millennium Lai Hoi Ling |
Ng Tsz Ching Wong Hiu Ying Angel |
JUNIOR WOMEN | |
Chung Yan Yuet Jeanie Hu Hei Man Lung Man Ching Pun Lee Ling |
Sy Wing Yu Wong Yui Ching Janice Yeung Nga Sum |
ESPOIR WOMEN | |
Cilicia Sedin Chan Cheung Ka Wing Chung Yan Lok Joyce Amelie Gibson Pun Wing Sum Wincy Tam Wincy |
Tsang Ho Sum Tse Shun Ling Christine van Voorst Pleroma Kaka Wong Wu Man Kei Tanya Wu Yan Yin |
Article by Lauren Hopkins
I was wondering where she went. I miss her beam mount.
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