38 years old, Windsurfer

Lee Lai-shan is the only Olympic gold medalist Hong Kong has ever had. Known to many as San San, she windsurfed her way to the top at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and showed the world that Hong Kong athletes could be a force to be reckoned with.

Before the victory she recalled the buzz about Hong Kong athletes while training in Europe. “I remember when we joined the European championship, one of the coaches said ‘Those athletes from Hong Kong are rubbish. They shouldn’t enter this event’.” The comment shocked many, but only threw fuel on San San’s fire. “When I heard this, I felt I had to prove that if you give me a chance, I can be at the top.” And at the top is where she placed in the women’s mistral boardsailing class – breaking Hong Kong’s 43-year medal-free stretch at the Olympic Games.

A humble individual, San San did not expect the overwhelming praise she received from people in Hong Kong. “The day I won the gold medal, I was still thinking I was just an athlete. I didn’t know my medal made a lot of people happy,” she says. “In the beginning athletes in Hong Kong didn’t play an important role, but then it made me feel like I have an obligation to promote sport in Hong Kong.”

San San is constantly honoured to be thought of as a hero, but she never forgets her own idol: “Trisha Leahy, of the Hong Kong Sports Institute. She worked as a psychologist and helped me a lot when I was an athlete. I think she’s what we need in Hong Kong sport.”

Inspired by Leahy, San San studied social sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, from where she received an honorary doctorate. Today this devoted mother of two plans to provide motivational classes for people: “I’m trying to set up a training course to teach people how to motivate themselves and handle pressure.”

Regardless of where the wind takes her in the future, San San will always be remembered as Hong Kong’s golden girl. Tina Lee