Lee Wai-sze

Sarah Lee Wai-sze, BBS, MH (born 12 May 1987) is a former Hong Kong professional track cyclist.

Her greatest success to date is winning the bronze medal in the women's keirin at the 2012 London Olympics, Hong Kong's third-ever Olympic medal and first in cycling. She won a second Olympic bronze medal in the women's sprint at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making her the first and only Hong Kong athlete to win medals in two different Olympic Games.

Early years
Lee was born on 12 May 1987 in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate, Hong Kong. She grew up in a poor family in Ngau Tau Kok, sharing a 200-square-foot public flat with her parents and two older siblings. Lee attended two schools in the locality, Bishop Paschang Catholic School and Leung Shek Chee College.

Although she was born with anemia, Lee represented her school in athletics in 100 and 400-metre dash. At Form 3, her school recommended her to the Hong Kong Sports Institute and her talent was spotted by the Hong Kong Cycling Association.

Career
Lee became a full-time athlete in 2004. Initially trained as a road cyclist, Lee was in danger of bowing out of cycling after a serious accident in 2006 as she swerved to avoid a stray dog during training, where she suffered a broken left scaphoid bone. Lee is coached by Jinkang Shen, who has also coached other successful Hong Kong cyclist including Kam-Po Wong.

2010
Lee captured the attention of Hong Kong when she won gold at the 500-meter time trial track cycling event at the 2010 Asian Games, in which she broke the Asian Record in winning the championship with a time of 33.945 s. Lee also won a bronze in the sprint event. In December 2010, Lee improved her Asian Record in 500-meter time trial with a time of 33.939 s in the 2010 Melbourne Track Cycling World Cup. Lee's performance has impressed the cycling hierarchy, and she received the Hong Kong Potential Sports Stars Awards for 2010. She also received the Medal of Honour from the Hong Kong Government in 2011 for her outstanding achievements in international cycling competitions.

2012
In February 2012 at the 2012 London Track Cycling World Cup, Lee upset Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton to win a bronze medal in the sprint event at the London Velodrome. She beat Pendleton 2–1 after losing to eventual champion Guo Shuang of China in the semi-finals. Lee also won a silver in the keirin final. The Union Cycliste Internationale described 24-year-old Lee as "a late revelation in the sprint events" after she claimed her second medal.

Lee was chosen as the flag bearer of the Hong Kong Olympic Representatives for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She won the bronze medal in women's keirin. Lee's bronze medal feat handed Hong Kong their first ever Olympic medal in cycling, and only their third overall. Lee also participated in the women's sprint event although she did not progress through the 1/8 Finals after losing to Cuba's Lisandra Guerra. Lee eventually finished at the 10th place. Lee received HK$ 750k from the Hang Seng Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme for her achievement in the Games. In an interview with Ming Pao, Lee said she hoped her achievement in the London Olympics can inspire a new generation of Hong Kong athletes for the 2016 Olympic Games. She loved cycling but she is going to retire soon.

2013
After the Olympics, Lee had a perfect start in the 2012–13 World Cup opening series with a gold medal in the women's sprint in Cali, Colombia, which is her first victory in a World Cup event. This is followed by a bronze in women's keirin in the second leg, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland. Lee won her first medal in 2013 by coming third in the women's sprint event in the third leg of the 2012–13 World Cup series.

In February 2013, Lee carried on her good form and won gold in the women's 500m time-trial at the World Track Championships in Belarus. She became the first female and third overall athlete from Hong Kong to wear rainbow jersey. After the gold, Lee beat Guo Shuang of China in Women's Sprint and won a bronze medal, securing her second medal in Minsk. This is the first time any HK athlete won multiple medals at a World Championship event.

2014
At the 2014 Asian Games, she won gold medals in Keirin and Sprint. She also won gold in the Asian Cycling Championships for Keirin and 500m time-trial, plus a bronze in Sprint.

2016
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the keirin competition, she advanced to second round after coming in first in her heat. However, in the second round, she crashed after colliding with Anna Meares of Australia and could not finish the race. She was placed 7th in the competition. On the next day, despite still nursing her injuries from her crash from yesterday, she competed in the sprint competition. She won in first and second rounds but lost to Kristina Vogel of Germany in the quarterfinals. She finished 6th in this competition.

2018
Lee successfully defended her title in Keirin and 200m time-trial at the 2018 Asian Games.

2019
In 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Lee claimed gold in sprint and keirin. She became the only athlete from Hong Kong to earn multiple rainbow jerseys.

2021
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Lee competed in both sprint and Keirin. In the keirin event, she lost in her heat in the first round but won in the repechage to advance to quarterfinals. She finished first in her quarterfinal heat to advance to the semifinals. However, she finished 5th in her heat and competed in the B Final for placement. She finished 8th overall in this event. In the sprint event, Lee advanced to 1/16 finals but lost to Katy Marchant of Great Britain to fall into the repechage. She won in the repechage and advanced to 1/8 final. She won in 1/8 final and quarterfinal. In the semifinals, she lost to Olena Starikova from Ukraine and had to race in the bronze medal match against the reigning world champion Emma Hinze of Germany. She won the bronze medal match and became the only Hong Kong Olympian with medals from different Olympic Games.

Personal life
Lee's idol is Great Britain's six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy.

Lee is a Baptist Christian. In 2009, she enrolled on a distance-learning course to study theology with the New York Theological Education Center Chinese Online School of Theology.

Achievements

 * 2009
 * Asian Cycling Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial


 * ACC Track Asia Cup
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Keirin, Bangkok
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Meng Zhao Juan)
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint


 * 2010
 * 2009–2010 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Keirin, Beijing


 * Asian Games
 * 1st Gold medal asia.svg 10m Time
 * 3rd Bronze medal asia.svg Sprint


 * Asian Cycling Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with EXZhao Juan)


 * ACC Track Asia Cup
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial, Hakodate
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint, Hakodate
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Meng Zhao Juan), Hakodate
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin, Hakodate
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial, Kuala Lumpur
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Sprint, Kuala Lumpur
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin, Kuala Lumpur
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial, Bangkok
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Sprint, Bangkok
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin, Bangkok
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Meng Zhao Juan), Bangkok


 * 2011
 * 2010–2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial,, Melbourne


 * Asian Cycling Championships
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Meng Zhao Juan)


 * ACC Track Asia Cup
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint, Bangkok
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Team Sprint, Bangkok (with Meng Zhao Juan)
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint, Kuala Lumpur
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Keirin, Kuala Lumpur
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial, Kuala Lumpur
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Wang Xiao Fei), Kuala Lumpur


 * All China National Track Cycling Championships
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial


 * 2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
 * 1st 500 m Time trial


 * 2012
 * Olympic Games
 * 3rd Bronze medal olympic.svg Keirin


 * 2011–2012 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin, London
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint, London


 * Asian Cycling Championships
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Keirin


 * All China National Track Cycling Championships
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Keirin
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint


 * UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
 * 1st Sprint


 * 2013
 * UCI Track World Championships
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg 500 m time trial
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint


 * 2012–2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Sprint, Cali
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Keirin, Glasgow
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Sprint, Aguascalientes
 * Overall 1stJersey white.svg Keirin
 * Overall 1stJersey white.svg Sprint


 * Asian Cycling Championships
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg 500 m Time trial
 * 1st Gold medal blank.svg Keirin


 * UCI Track Cycling World Ranking
 * 1st Time trial
 * 1st Keirin


 * 2014
 * Asian Track Championships
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg Keirin
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg 500m Time Trial
 * 3rd bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
 * Asian Games
 * 1st gold medal blank.svg Keirin
 * 1st gold medal blank.svg Sprint
 * Hong Kong International Track Cup
 * 1st 500m Time Trial
 * 2nd Keirin
 * 2nd Sprint
 * South Australian Track Classic
 * 1st Sprint
 * 2nd Keirin
 * Incheon International Track Competition
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint
 * Hong Kong International Track Classic
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint
 * Hong Kong International Track Cup
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint


 * 2015
 * Asian Track Championships
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg Sprint
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg 500m Time Trial
 * 3rd bronze medal blank.svg Keirin
 * Melbourne Cup on Wheels
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint
 * South Australian Grand Prix
 * 1st Sprint
 * 2nd Keirin
 * Super Drome Cup
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint


 * 2016
 * Asian Track Championships
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg Keirin
 * 2nd silver medal blank.svg 500m Time Trial
 * 3rd bronze medal blank.svg Sprint
 * ITS Melbourne DISC Grand Prix
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint
 * ITS Melbourne Grand Prix
 * 1st Keirin
 * 1st Sprint


 * 2017
 * Asian Track Championships
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg Keirin
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg Sprint
 * 1st Jersey unknown.svg 500m Time Trial
 * 2nd silver medal blank.svg Team Sprint (with Ma Wing Yu)
 * 3rd bronze medal blank.svg Sprint, World Track Championships


 * 2021
 * Olympic Games
 * 3rd Bronze medal olympic.svg Sprint