- The 2012 Olympian considered quitting after the shock of losing the internal selection for the 2016 Rio Games
- But wise words from her secondary school teacher brings life and the sport into focus for the 29-year-old
Hayley Chan Hei-man was about to quit windsurfing after the shock of missing the 2016 Rio Games but she changed her mindset thanks to a chat with her secondary school teacher and is now preparing for another Olympic challenge in Tokyo this summer.
The 29-year-old Chan easily defeated fellow teammate Ngai Wai-yan in a two-round Tokyo Olympics internal selection that ended a fortnight ago when she finished 10th at the RS: X World Championships in Sorrento, Australia, to become the sole representative for Hong Kong. In sailing, only one athlete is allowed to represent the class at the Olympics.
But it was a different story four years ago when she surprisingly lost the Rio Games spot to Sonia Lo Sin-lam in the same selection, despite her dominance in the boardsailing event.
"I was pondering my sporting future after such a big defeat, with going back to school as one of the options," she said. "And it was the last day that I had to respond to my coach if I would like to continue. Then, fortunately, I met one of my secondary schoolteachers and her words totally changed me."
Windsurfing heroine Hayley Chan aims to make Olympic return in Tokyo
Since her early days, Chan was hailed a star of the future in the sport that has won Hong Kong the only gold medal at the Olympic Games. She captured a silver medal at the 2008 junior world championships, a result that not even Olympic gold medallist Lee Lai-shan could achieve.
Two years later, she won silver at the Guangzhou Asian Games at only 19 before clinching a gold at the next games in Incheon four years later. At the 2012 London Olympics, she finished in a respectable 12th place, despite a serious training accident less than two months before the Games. A collision with a 49ers boat saw her spend five weeks in hospital where she had her spleen removed before getting back on the water in time for the Olympics.
I never expected to win: Hayley Chan eyes Asian glory after Japan triumph
"I was too focused on the Rio Games and seemed to have reached the end of the world after losing the place to my teammate," said Chan. "Then my teacher asked me if I could still remember why I took up windsurfing. Was it only because of taking part in the Olympic Games?
"To be honest, I was too proud of my performances prior to the Rio Olympics as I achieved so many good results. I did not care about my teammates, I did not realise the younger athletes were also making improvements. I only focused on myself without thinking about other people in the team and became very selfish as someone might have said.
"Fortunately, this has been changed. After the 2016 setback, I become more mature and learned how to work with other people in the squad, the coaches, athletes and staff members. I opened myself to them with more communication, caring more about the young windsurfers as the eldest member. It has been a big learning curve."
Injured Hayley Chan in race against time
From London 2012 to Tokyo 2020, Chan is now in a better position to challenge for the podium with her vast experience gained over these years.
Head coach Chan King-yin, who came sixth in the men's RS: X at the 2008 Beijing Games, praised Chan's performance in the medal race at the recent world championships, where she proved she could mix it with the top 10 sailors in the world.
"In terms of skills and experience, I have learned a lot over these years and can handle different wind conditions, just like what happened in the world championships in Sorrento when I won the medal race and finished with an overall top 10 position," she said.
"The important thing is how to deliver my performance on the day, especially in the Olympics when it's going to be a lot more tense.
"Sometimes, I cared too much about the results and it threw my game plan into disarray. The chance is always there in Tokyo."
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.