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| Cheung is the third man to win gold in men's foil back-to-back |
It's only Day 3 of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Hong Kong has done extremely well with two golds and one bronze already.
World number one fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai won the first gold on the first day of the Summer Games in the individual epee and those Hongkongers who stayed up in the wee hours to witness her victory were thrilled to bits.
"I'm really thankful, I'm really grateful," Kong, 30, said. "I'm just so lucky... in fencing anything can happen, and I love all the girls here, and I just can't believe it's me."
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| Fencer Kong celebrates her first gold in epee |
This is her third Olympics and Kong beat a French competitor for gold.
"I lost a bit of focus [in the final] from the start and was distracted a bit thinking the home crowd would be really disappointed if I win," Kong said. "It's a dream for me to play at the Grand Palais and I am grateful for the presence of all the fans, even if they might not want me to win.
"There were no spectators in Tokyo after all, and I am touched when the volunteers, knowing that I am playing their home fencer, would still greet and cheer for me beforehand."
Today swimming sensation Siobhan Haughey also excited Hongkongers with a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle, with Australia taking gold and silver. This is Haughey's third Olympic medal, the first Hongkonger to have this many medals.
And she rallied her teammates to keep going.
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| Swimmer Haughey with her bronze medal today |
Indeed soon after fencer Cheung Ka-long successfully defended his gold medal in Tokyo with another gold in men's foil. He is the third man to win back-to-back gold medals in men's foil, the last athlete to do this was in 1956.
Cheung says he won the medal for his dad, who was in the stands watching.
"I'm very happy that my dad came to see me and I could give him a birthday present -- his birthday is in July," he said.
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