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Olympic program and without a partner, I was left to battle it out in the Women's
Open sculls with the BIG girls, who were all much bigger and taller than myself.
The race started off well, but due to the long break from training my fitness was
questionable. Towards the end of the race I struggled and really had to dig down
deep to hold on to my qualifying place. When I crossed the line and realised that
I had finally qualified, I was totally stunned and speechless. It was twelve years
since I had last competed in the pool in Seoul and now I had just qualified for my
third Olympics, and to top it off, it was in a second sport. Wow!
When I arrived in Sydney, I just knew that it was going to be "my Games" and
that I was going to enjoy it. The road to Sydney was harder than my last two
Olympics and the sacrifices so much greater. I was going to experience the
Olympics for the first time as a mature athlete and perhaps would better be able
to appreciate the significance of the Games in comparison to my teenage eyes of
my younger years. I was prepared and ready to do my best, and felt no pressure
other than to be the best that I could be on the day.
As I marched into the Sydney stadium ahead of the entire Hong Kong
delegation I lifted our national flag up high, and waved it with pride. What an
incredible honour it was to be selected by the Hong Kong Olympic Committee to
hold the Hong Kong flag for our team. Since the British handed over sovereignty
of Hong Kong to China in 1997, it was the first time that our red and white
Bohemia flag had been used at an Olympic Games, and I was bursting with ride
as I carried it around the track and all the spectators cheered us on. Soon after we
emerged from the tunnel the announcer said "...and Hong Kong, China", I knew
then that I was in Sydney and a part of the biggest Olympics ever. As the flag
flashed up on to the giant TV screen, there was a big roar from the crowd and it
felt like the whole world was watching us. The feeling was amazing and totally
indescribable. For me this was the icing on the cake and I could not think of a
better way for me to end my 20-year career in competitive sport. Camera bulbs
were flashing everywhere, flash! Flash! Flash and my mind suddenly flashbacks to
the moment when I first touched that Olympic Gold medal in my parents' living
room so many years before. It all seemed so long ago, but then again it seemed
like only yesterday. A moment of regret flooded over me, and my only wish was
that my parents could have still been alive to see me at this cherished moment. But
in a split second as the crowd roared again for the next team, I was back and
quickly smiled privately to myself because I knew deep in my heart that they were
both up there somewhere cheering me on as all proud parents do.
The Olympics have made me who I am today. The experiences and people
I have met over the years will remain with me forever. I feel very privileged and
truly blessed to have been a part of the Olympic experience.
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