Beijing, China, February 11, 2022: Although his Olympic debut did not go according to plan, Sidney Chu will never forget his Beijing experience.
This was hardly surprising, as he was racing next to the Chinese legend Wu Dajing, who won the gold medal in this event four years ago in PyeongChang.
It was clear from the start that Chu was up against it in such distinguished company, as he fell well behind early on and was never in a position to challenge for one of the two automatic qualifying places for the quarter-finals.
After a false start brought the four skaters back to the line, Wu skated gracefully and powerfully to win the heat in 40.230 seconds – much to the delight of the home spectators inside the venue.
Italy’s Pietro Sighel was second in 40.350 and Chu came in third in 44.857 after the fourth racer, Dylan Hoogerwerf of the Netherlands, crashed out and had no time recorded.
Chu was Hong Kong’s only representative in short track in the three-strong team in Beijing and spoke of his regret, but also of his pride, in competing in the Winter Olympics for the first time.
“I feel a little bit sort of regretful that I wasn’t able to put in my all at the start because, especially in the first corner of the start, I wasn’t able to have the guts to take that spot with that Netherlands player, and so I think that it’s a little sad that I wasn’t able to use that acceleration opportunity from the start,” he said.
“But, all in all, I mean even though I didn’t get the result I wanted, I didn’t have the performance that I wanted, I think that it was a very good experience. I love the Olympics experience and it is something that I will never forget in my life.”
Chu admitted to being a bit intimidated with Wu, the Olympic and World record-holder at 500 metres, to his left and two other top-ranked skaters in the same heat.
“I think it’s also a combination of I don’t have enough competition experience, but there was a little bit of a self-confidence drop after that first false start but I wish I had more of that gut feeling to… not overtake but just keep my spot in the start. I had a really nice start for the first time but going into the corner I just stopped and I lost that opportunity.”
Chu said he had been training 10 years for this moment, and focusing solely on the 500m and on the start for the last two months. He said he hoped that short track fans in China and around the world would continue to support the “excellent athletes” coming through in Hong Kong.
Photo: Wander Roberto @ANOC Olympic