His name may be on every Hongkonger’s lips after his surreal run at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but men’s foil hero Edgar Cheung Ka-long has long been collecting elite-level medals under the radar.
The world No 19, who clinched a historic men’s singles gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Monday, was crowned Asian champion aged 18, won Hong Kong’s first fencing World Cup medal, and boasts wins over several world number ones and Olympic gold medallists.
Those who tuned into the Tokyo Games’ opening ceremony would also recall the 1.93m-tall Cheung proudly bearing the Hong Kong flag alongside women’s badminton player Tse Ying-suet. Very few would have predicted he would walk away with Hong Kong’s second Olympic gold medal in history.
The Kobe Bryant-quoting, crafty left-hander Cheung is finally reaping the benefits having gained hundreds of thousands of social media followers within minutes of taking his podium position.
Hard work and sacrifice
Born on June 10, 1997, Cheung is a “handover baby” – coming into the world three weeks before Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule by Britain. He is the first Hong Kong athlete to have the China national anthem, March of the Volunteers, played on his behalf at an Olympics. When Lee Lai-shan won the city’s first gold in 1996, 11 months before the handover, she stood to God Save the Queen.
Cheung’s father Alan and mother Chan Suet-ling were always supportive of his fencing pursuits. According to world fencing governing body the FIE, the pair played national league basketball in Hong Kong and in the mainland.
Though the former Ying Wa and Lam Tai Fai College student has shot to golden boy status in his home city, Cheung’s rise to the top is certainly no fluke. The 24-year-old has been grinding away since enrolling in his first Hong Kong Fencing School class aged 10 and quickly emerged as a junior and cadet promise, but remained largely in the shadows of his teammates.
Childhood coach Wong Tsan often noted how incredibly calm and focused he was on the piste, and equally observant and willing to learn off of it. He was an enthusiastic competitor and his unique left-handed gait was considered an advantage on the local and regional scenes.
“That’s why he stood out,” Hong Kong’s first Asian Games medallist Wong said, adding that he was quickly shuffled into the Hong Kong Sports Institute in his early teens. It is of note that Cheung and world No 8 foilist Ryan Choi Chun-yin were born in the same year and were simultaneously promoted through the age grades.
In his personal life, Cheung was in a high-profile relationship with former national team track cycling star and Asian Games silver medallist Vivian Ma Wing-yu. Though they gained overwhelming support from fans, local media reported the pair had eventually split earlier this year.
Asia’s new champion
Cheung’s breakout year came in 2016 – at least in the fencing circuits. At just 18, he was crowned Asian champion – the first from Hong Kong – to earn a spot in Hong Kong’s inexperienced Rio Olympics roster. Most impressive was that he beat a former world champion, Olympic gold medallist and junior world champion along the way.
“I am just over the moon and still wondering if it’s true,” he said then. “It’s something I could never have imagined before I left [for the championships in China]. But I know clearly that this is just the beginning as there are many things I need to learn in the senior category.
“I need to improve my speed, skills and power against Western fencers if I want to stay competitive at the highest level. We are used to playing against Asian fencers and need more exposure against the Westerners if we want to do well in the Olympics.”
Rio 2016 learnings
Cheung again overachieved in Brazil, becoming the first male Hong Kong fencer to reach the last 16. He lost to home favourite Guilherme Toldo in a rapturous stadium. “It was so hard to concentrate … It was so loud … but that’s what makes the Olympics special,” Cheung said. “Maybe next Olympics I’ll do better. If I face a Japanese fencer in Tokyo, I’ll know what to do.”
“My Rio result gave me a lot of confidence as I gained more experience against top fencers. My previous target was to break into the top 16 in the world … now I have my sights on a top 10. There is always room for improvement for a young fencer like me,” added Cheung, who lifted the junior World Cup trophy less than a year later.
Within a month, he won Hong Kong’s first fencing World Cup medal after getting bronze in the individual foil. He crashed out to reigning Rio gold medallist and eventual winner Daniele Garozzo – whom he poetically beat in the final in Tokyo four years later.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel very big when I entered the piste [in Russia] because this competition has all the top fencers from Europe. They were all ahead of me [skill-wise] and I wasn’t so sure how I would perform,” Cheung said.
His form took a dip in 2018, when he only sealed a bronze individual medal, though he helped the team to silver at the Asian Games.
Calm before the Tokyo storm
Cheung, Choi, Shawn Cheung Siu-lun, Lawrence Ng Lok-wang and coach Greg Koenig sealed Tokyo qualification in 2020. They were on top form, but the Games’ postponement allowed Cheung an extra year of preparation.
Although his world ranking had been slowly dropping from a career-high of seventh in the 2017-18 season, Cheung was quietly confident of turning a few heads by the summer of 2021.
Aside from the final, Cheung’s Tokyo highlights included a dominant win over world No 2 Alessio Foconi, an incredible comeback against Kirill Borodachev in the quarter-final, and a tense semi-final win over Alexander Choupenitch.
“He is much more mature and stable these days,” said Hong Kong head coach Zheng Kangzhao. “He can control his emotions now. Before, if he was losing by a big margin, he would have just thrown it away. But this time he stayed calm.”
Cheung’s father added post-win: “It was really stressful [to watch the final]. We didn’t dare to watch the live broadcast – we couldn’t bear it. I was the only one watching because my wife couldn’t handle the pressure. We might not sleep tonight. Ka-long is quite an introverted person who tends to rely on himself – the more nervous you are, the harder it is to control things. But he has been training throughout the whole process and ... has finally produced results for Hong Kong athletes.”
Cheung and his teammates will feature again in the men’s foil team competition on August 1.
