How a refugee and an email gave Hong Kong athlete a historic ticket to Olympics

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“Since taekwondo was made an Olympic sport in 2000, this is the moment we have been waiting for,” Wong, head of the senior Kyorugi unit, said.

Lo Wai-fung (centre) has claimed Hong Kong’s 31st berth at the Paris Olympics. Photo: Handout

“This is definitely a milestone for us, because we never had such good results before. Even if we have not qualified for Paris outright, it’s a historic achievement for us.”

In March, Lo was denied by Ali Reza Abbasi in the men’s under-68kg semi-finals at the qualifying tournament in Taian, China, where the two highest-placed athletes per weight category per gender qualified for the Games.

Abbasi was representing the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, but was later ruled ineligible to do so, leading to a reallocation of the place to Lo.

Appearing at the Olympics for a third time, the refugee team will represent the more than 100 million displaced people around the world.

Wong praised Lo’s resilience after World Taekwondo, the sport’s governing body, notified the Hong Kong association by email on Tuesday that it had been reallocated the revoked quota place.

Lo had outscored Abbasi in the first round of their semi-final before the referee stopped the contest, ruling Lo could not safely continue after taking a hit and dropping his mouth guard.

The Hongkonger recovered to beat Ahmad Bahlool of Palestine for third place.

“In taekwondo, we don’t [usually] have the third-place play-off match, even at the World Championships and the Olympic Games,” Wong said. “So it is meant to be.

Ali Reza Abbasi beat the Hongkonger but has missed out on a place in France. Photo: Instagram/@alireza._.abba30

“Looking back, we are glad Lo and the team did not give up in the play-off, despite it being seemingly a meaningless contest back then. We were all frustrated after the semi-final loss, but we decided we still had to try our best, so we fought on.

“Had we lost in that final match, the quota for the Paris Games wouldn’t be ours even after Abbasi’s disqualification, and look where we are now.”

Lo, a quarter-finalist at the Asian Games last year, will be back in action at the Asian Championships, which take place next Thursday to Saturday in Da Nang, Vietnam.