Some fencing schools in Hong Kong are seeing a surge in sign-ups following épéeist Vivian Kong Man-wai’s gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics, with club founders saying the triumph would encourage more girls to take up the sport.
Kong, who was competing in her third Olympics, came back from a six point deficit to win 13-12 in sudden death against her French opponent and clinch Hong Kong’s first gold medal of the Paris games.
Kong became just the third person from Hong Kong to win the top medal and the second in fencing to do so following Cheung Ka-long, who captured gold in the individual men’s foil at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
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Jina Chein Jin-en, co-founder of Hong Kong Fencing Master, said that she had been handling inquiries all day from parents over WhatsApp and in person at a show the club performed at Kai Tak’s Airside shopping centre.
Chein, who co-founded the club with former fencing Olympian Lau Kwok-kin in 2017, said she had received about 20 “serious” inquiries in the hours following Kong’s victory compared to the four or five she normally received.
Of these, Chein highlighted that the four who had signed up and paid were all girls.
“It is very inspiring for young girls,” she said. “No longer is fencing only for boys to win, but actually girls have a promising future.”
In her upbringing, Kong’s parents arranged for her to participate in a wide range of extracurricular activities - from ballet to ice skating to drawing and playing the guzheng, a traditional instrument - before she fell in love with fencing at the age of 11.
But Kong had previously said her parents always prioritised academics and wanted to ensure she got into university before giving her the freedom to fully pursue fencing.
Kong, a graduate from Stanford University currently pursuing a law degree at Chinese University of Hong Kong, three years ago publicly shared a letter she wrote to a young local fencer’s parents encouraging them to foster their child’s passion for the sport.
Francis Lee Wing-keung, the founder and coaching director of the Academy of Fencing (Hong Kong), estimated that only about a third of those who took part in the sport were female.
He said many people still thought of fencing as being “like martial arts” - that is, it was more suitable for boys and not “elegant” enough for girls.
Kong’s victory could change that gender stereotype, he said.
“When you watched the television last night, you can see that [fencing] is also very elegant.”
Lee, who began fencing in 1989, has watched sport grow in popularity in the city over the past 35 years.
He said when he first obtained his coaching license in 1993, there were only about 500 practitioners in Hong Kong.
By comparison, there were now more than 1,000 participants at an under-17 competition he attended over the last two days.
Lee said that with the city producing Olympic fencing champions such as Kong and Cheung, the future of the sport would continue to grow brighter.
“Lots of teenagers now look at it as a good path for their development,” he said. “With the popularity of the sport, they think they can make it as a career in the future.”
More from South China Morning Post:
- Paris Olympics: Vivian Kong says ‘Hong Kong spirit’ drove her towards gold medal triumph
- Paris Olympics: Hong Kong’s champion fencer Cheung Ka-long should be feared, coach says
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