Olympic Games 1996

29 JULY 1996

LAI SHAN LEE (HKG) WINS GOLD - PRESS CONFERENCE

Great excitement abounded with Lee's win of the gold medal. Not only was it the first yachting medal to be won by Hong Kong, but also the first gold medal Hong Kong has won in any Olympic Sport.

Introductions and congratulation began the Press Conference.

Q: Why did you save your only win for the last race?

Lee: There were several reasons. I had a bit of a lead compared with the second and third before the race, so I planned to play conservative on the start. I know that my board speed is a little bit faster than the others and my physical fitness is better than the others. As long as I go for the right side of the course... I know I can be there and even though I'm not first around the top mark, I believe I can pump harder than the others so I can catch up. No problem.

Q: Do you think that pumping and the physical aspect of your sport was more important than the tactical side here in Savannah? Or, you know, I guess there was a tricky course out there. Could you say something about the course?

Lee: Basically, I think pumping is good for the sport because its more fair, I think, compared to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, we had three jury boats around, so if you are lucky there is not jury boat around, then you get rid of penalties, but now it is open so everyone can pump as hard as they can and I would think for physical-wise I think is fifty percent and technical-wise I think is another fifty percent. In Wassaw Sound here, the course we sail is quite tricky because we're just right in the river mouth so we have two big rivers around our course, so catching up to the current is pretty hard and also we are almost surrounded by a lot of islands, so when the wind goes through it changes the direction. So, I'm glad that I came here a bit early so I got used to the conditions.

Moderator: Any more questions?

Q: What do you think this is going to do to the identity of Hong Kong as a sporting nation when you get taken over by China in 1997? I know Honk Kong will have its own separate team, but do you think this will help your identity for 2000 in Sydney as a separate team?

Lee: I think so far I haven't been thinking about it but it's kind of, I would say political-things I would think of later on.

Moderator: Any more questions from anyone?

Q: Would you like to sail at Sydney in 2000 and will you sail at Lake Burly Griffin in Canberra?

Lee: I still need time to think about it because I'm afraid there will be more better girls in Hong Kong than I do, so I don't know, if I can represent Hong Kong to go for 2000 then I would.

Q: Otherwise you would represent Australia?

Lee: Uh... not really, not really, not that easy.

Q: Knowing that you had a very good chance of winning the medal today, how has it been for you to wait through postponements yesterday and today and just be patient and wait?

Lee: Basically, I've been talking with the sport psychologist a lot, so I learnt a lot of things from her, and also I got a it of experience in the past few years we have some events like that we had to wait for a long time, and I think the key point is just stay calm and get relaxed, don't be so nervous, I think that's the key point.

Question: What word of advice would you have for the people going for the silver and bronze tomorrow?

Lee: It really depends on the wind and whoever is familiar with the wind conditions will be better, I think. Just try hard.

Q: Obviously a lot of attention in Hong Kong has been paid on you and your try for the medal. How have you been able to deal with that pressure with the entire country looking at you and watching you? I know they have kept the media off you all week. How have you been able to react to that and was that helpful without talking to the media?

Lee: I think this is really helpful. Especially you are so busy on prepring your equipment and also you prepare for relaxation, Ôcause relaxation is very important too so you don't need to spend so much time dealing with the press. I think it is really helpful and also when I go racing I don't think about pressure or press or anything, just purely focus on racing so I think it helps a lot.

Q: So when you're off racing, and people are looking for you for interviews and everything else, how have you been able to deal with the pressure of being the hope of Hong Kong?

Lee: Actually our team leader did a good job, he avoided all interviews, or he helped me to deal with all the interviews so that I don't need to deal with that. Every time that I finished the race I had nothing to do.

Q: Were you able to block all of the pressure out?

Lee: Yes, I think so.

Moderator: Okay, thanks very much everyone.

Lai Shan Lee will be presented with her 1996 Olympic Regatta gold medal for the Boardsailing Women's discipline (Mistral) on 29 July 1996 in Savannah.