Hong Kong skater excited for Beijing debut

Hong Kong's short track speed skater Sidney K Chu said he felt both excited and stressed when he was told he had qualified for the Beijing 2022 Olympics, Chinanews reported on Wednesday.

"Though I'm not the best or the quickest athlete, I hope I can try my best and achieve great results at the Games held in my home country," the skater said.

This is the first time for Chu to participate in the Winter Olympics. Four years ago, Chu missed the chance to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics due to injuries in his right ankle.

"No matter how hard it is, and no matter how many times I was injured, I never gave up because I hoped one day I can compete at the winter Olympics," Chu said.

Due to the lack of standardized rinks in Hong Kong, Chu and his teammates had to train in the Chinese mainland, in places such as Changchun, Dongguan and Beijing.

"The past four years has been a hard time for my whole team," Chu said, adding "the team hadn't celebrated the Spring Festival at home for around four to five years."

When he first went to train in the northeast part of China, many things were new to Chu, including the local dialect, food, and climate. However, after learning more about local culture, he has fallen in love with the area.