Vivian Kong Wins Gold for Hong Kong in Épée at Paris 2024 Olympics

Fencer Vivian Kong has made history by winning the gold medal in the women’s individual épée at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Her victory not only brought pride to her but also lifted Team Hong Kong to the podium on the very first day of the games.

Kong, who is currently the world number one, faced a tough challenge against Auriane Mallo-Breton from France, who was the crowd favorite. In a nail-biting finish, Kong came from behind to win with the final score of 13-12. This achievement makes her only the third athlete from Hong Kong to win an Olympic gold, following windsurfer Lee Lai-shan in 1996 and fellow fencer Edgar Cheung in 2021.

Among the audience witnessing this incredible moment was French President Emanuel Macron. After her triumph, Kong couldn’t hold back her tears of joy and expressed her gratitude to her supporters back home in Hong Kong, who watched the final match during the early hours due to the six-hour time difference.

In her emotional speech, Kong shared, “I’m really thankful, I’m really grateful. I’m just so lucky… in fencing anything can happen, and I love all the girls here, and I just can’t believe it’s me.” The city’s leader, John Lee, also congratulated her on Facebook, expressing pride in her historic achievement.

Kong’s journey to the gold medal involved defeating Hadley Husisian of the US with a score of 15-12 to enter the top eight. She then beat Ukraine’s Olena Kryvytska 15-7 before advancing to the semi-finals where she outperformed Nelli Differt from Estonia with a final score of 15-11. At the previous Tokyo Olympics, she reached the quarterfinals.

Her win wasn’t the only good news for Team Hong Kong on the first day of the Paris Games. Table tennis pair Doo Hoi-kem and Wong Chun-ting also made it to the final eight in mixed doubles and were set to face Spain‘s Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles. Meanwhile, rower Chiu Hin-chun was preparing for repechage after initially missing out on qualifying for the men’s single sculls.

In badminton, Tse Ying-suet and Jordan Tang secured victory in their first match against Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hsin and Ye Hong-wei. The duo will face a tough challenge next as they go up against Japan‘s Arisa Higashino and Yuta Watanabe, who had previously defeated them in the bronze medal match at Tokyo Olympics. Unfortunately, gymnasts Stone Shek and judoka Wong Ka-lee did not advance in their respective sports.