Hong Kong protests, Tokyo 2020 rugby failure and John Moore’s Aethero mark 2019 in sport
- This was a year to remember for racing’s John Moore, trail runner James Somers Eve and outspoken Hong Kong athletes
- Aethero’s promise on the track matched by city’s runners on the trails and CrossFit’s boom
Our writers look back at the year just gone and the one ahead.
Look out for part two of this roundup from our team later.
John Moore’s final months with boom youngster Aethero
The rise of John Moore’s boom sprinter Aethero has been a sight to behold in recent months and although he didn’t get the chocolates at Group One level in the Hong Kong Sprint, he was only a neck behind Beat The Clock in third and the future knows no bounds for this horse.
Making things all the more interesting is that Aethero’s ascendance coincides with John Moore’s last Hong Kong season and the duo’s final six months together will no doubt make for captivating viewing.
Moore will be desperate to extract a Group One out of the horse before having to hand him over to another trainer – just what lengths will he go to in his pursuit of that goal? Sam Agars
A year of inspirational highlights
The year started off with the 298km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge (HK4TUC). One of the profiles was on Hong Kong-based Scot Nikki Han. Han is understated and modest, a runner who takes on challenges for all the right reasons. That is, for the love of it. She was happy to talk to the media, but if she completed the 298km run and no one ever found out, it probably wouldn’t matter to her.
That is why it was such a highlight to watch her become the first woman to earn the title “HK4TUC finisher”. She stood by the iconic letter box in Mui Wo and let out a roar. It put a lump in my throat.
But the runner who impressed most this year was James Somers Eve. I use the term runner loosely because Somers Eve had never run more than 10km before. He probably didn’t realise how big a challenge he was undertaking when he decided to carry 45kg – a kilo for every one his father lost to cancer – around the Lantau 70. He slogged around the course in 21 hours.
Tokyo 2020, Kenneth To and Poon Ching-chiu deaths and cancellations dominate Hong Kong sport in 2019
I am in awe. Seeing Somers Eve, a heavy-set former rugby player, taking on the challenge inspired me in a way few other stories have.
I could relate to his inexperience but could not imagine the challenge of carrying that weight. Mark Agnew
Rugby wins and loses, CrossFit gains
It was an eventful year, personally. I covered my first Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, witnessing the men’s squad lose a heartbreaker in the qualifier final to Ireland.
Then in November the team failed to qualify for the Olympics, losing to South Korea in a stunning overtime loss that was again difficult to watch.
Watching the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan unfold was quite the treat. The popular fanzone put on by the Hong Kong Rugby Union at Central harbourfront was a bonus for the city during the tournament.
Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay capped an incredible Cinderella season by rising from the cellar of the HKRU Premiership to climb all the way to be crowned championship winners.
Watching that final game in the rain at King’s Park and interviewing the elated players afterwards was a particular highlight.
CrossFit was a big part of SCMP Sport’s coverage this year. I attended April’s CrossFit “Sanctional” – the Asia CrossFit Championship, and then two more this winter – the Pandaland CrossFit Challenge in Chengdu and the Dubai CrossFit Championship.
I’m still not entirely sure what to make of CrossFit as a spectator sport, but I do know that its following is one of unwavering devotees and despite its contrarians, the sport continues to expand around the world.
Something I expect to continue through 2020. Patrick Blennerhassett
Hong Kong athletes say what they mean
“Hong Kong is not China” is the often-repeated refrain of anti-government protesters but nowhere is this more apparent than in sport. Hong Kong was guaranteed sporting independence post 1997, which means our athletes are under a separate Olympic governing body and rules itself. Unlike the Hong Kong government, the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee does not answer to the mainland.
The autonomy also allows our athletes to say the kind of things that those is supposedly freer societies may be ostracised for. Olympic medal hopeful Sarah Lee Wai-sze posted an “add oil” message on social media in the summer as the anti-government protests gathered steam.
Badminton player Lee Cheuk-yiu appeared to make a gesture of support for the protesters on his way to a stunning victory in the men’s singles competition of the Hong Kong Open as street battles raged near the Hong Kong Coliseum.
It is not about being pro or anti protesters, it is about being able to say what you feel – something that Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil found to be problematic when he expressed his support for the Uygur in Xinjiang province.
Freedom of expression is a myth. However, what Sarah Lee and Lee Cheuk-yiu said in Hong Kong cannot be said in the mainland. Truly, in that sense, Hong Kong is not China. Nazvi Careem
