Lo Wai Fung Winning His First Taekwondo Match at the Paris Olympics 

Student Lo Wai Fung made Hong Kong history by winning his first taekwondo match (Men’s 68 kg) at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Aug. 8, 2024. Wai Fung’ performance was encouraging as he took down his opponent Yahya Al Ghotany (of Refugee Olympic Team) swiftly in the first two sets with scores of 14 – 0 and 16 – 4. 

In the top-16 round, Wai Fung faced a very strong fighter Ulugbek Rashitov, the champion from Uzbekistan who previously won in the Tokyo Olympics & the last Asian Games. Wai Fung did his best but was no match for the Uzbekistan fighter as he went down 0 – 12 and 2 – 9. 

Benefitting from a repechage, Wai Fung got another chance to fight on. He had to face the Chinese athlete Liang Yu Shuai who lost to Rashitov in the top-8 round. The Chinese fighter was difficult to handle as Wai Fung tried very hard to hang on; Wai Fung eventually lost 4 – 5 and  0 – 13. Even though Wai Fung did not manage a fight for the bronze, he still wrote an important chapter in Hong Kong’s taekwondo history.

The first taekwondo athlete representing Hong Kong in the Olympics 

Wai Fung has gained the chance to compete at the Paris Games in the under 68kg class because an opponent he lost to in a qualifying tournament in March 2024 failed to meet requirements to represent the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and was subsequently disqualified. This became the first time Hong Kong has qualified for the event since Taekwondo became an official Olympic event in 2000. 

Wai Fung was thrilled to have the chance to represent Hong Kong in the Olympics and he will be doing his utmost in preparing himself for the competition. 

Previously, Wai Fung studied in the Higher Diploma in Management (Sport and Healthy Living) of HKBU-SCE; he will be starting his studies in the Physical Education & Recreation Management (PERM) programme at HKBU in September 2024.