If you hadn’t heard about fencing or Edgar Cheung before, well, you most certainly will be hearing about it now. Edgar Cheung Ka-long, Hong Kong’s 24-year-old star fencer and former Asian and junior world champion, has made history by winning the gold medal for the men’s foil individual event at the Tokyo Olympic Games, defeating the defending champion – 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist – Italian fencer Daniele Garozzom in the process.
The whole city held its breath as Cheung, currently ranked 19th in the world, went up against Garozzo, who is ranked number 7 in the world, in the fencing final on day three. The bout edged back and forth before Cheung took home the win with 15 to 11 in a brilliant victory that heard Hong Kong roar with immense pride.
His win is the second Olympic gold medal in its history after Hong Kong’s windsurfer Lee Lai-shan won the city’s first gold at the Atlanta Olympics back in 1996. The newly-crowned Olympic gold medallist has now put Hong Kong in 16th place on the Tokyo Olympics medal board and will be receiving HK$5 million as prize money.
Two other Hong Kong men's foil fencers, Ryan Choi Chun-yin and Shawn Cheung Siu-lun finished in the top 16 and top 64, respectively. Together, with Cheung and reserve fencer Lawrence Ng Lok-wang, they will compete in the men’s foil team event on Sunday, August 1.
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For more on what to expect and how to watch the games in Hong Kong, check out our Tokyo Olympics guide.
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