Feature | My Olympics Journey
My Olympics Journey W O RD S: ST EPH A NIE N O RTO N | IM AGES:
ST EPH A NIE N O RTO N
SP O RT S F ED ER ATIO N A ND O LY MPIC C O MMIT T EE O F H O N G KO N G , CHIN A
arrived in Japan on 13 July, which meant I was the first Hong Kong athlete to arrive! After the usual COVID test and waiting around in the airport for the bus (for a few hours), we were finally off to the Olympic Sailing Village. From the airport to the village it was about a 2.5 hour bus trip. The Olympic Sailing Village was in Oiso Prince Hotel, a 30 minute drive from Enoshima Harbour. This is where the majority of sailors and coaches were staying, with the exception of a few larger teams. The hotel wasn’t super big, so I shared a room with the Hong Kong windsurfer, Hayley Chan Hei-man. Our room was pretty simple, nothing unusual and definitely no cardboard beds in sight… Things were run a little differently than normal due to the pandemic. We were only allowed to go between the sailing village and the harbour on a bus (or special taxis), or to the main Olympic village in Tokyo. Everything we needed was inside the hotel, a buffet, a gym, and a ‘recreation’ centre (basically just origami, and table tennis) – so no sushi and ramen for us which was extremely unfortunate ): Being the pandemic games also meant that we needed to be tested every day, wear masks everywhere, and even wear gloves when we got food from the buffet. I got my boat on the 14th and was allowed to train on the water from the 15th up until racing started on the 25th. In the Laser class, they provide most things for you, so I just had to show up with my ropes, tiller and extension, and some clothes. Unfortunately, this year the Hong Kong Olympic Committee would not allow the sailors to attend the opening ceremony, so Hayley
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| SEPTEMBER 2021 AHOY!
