So Wa-wai

Last updated

So Wa-wai
So Wa Wai 2009.JPG
So Wa-wai at the Hong Kong Book Fair, 2009
Personal information
Born (1981-10-06) 6 October 1981 (age 43)
British Hong Kong
Height172 cm (5 ft 8 in) (2021)
Sport
Sport para-athletics
Disability class T36
Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres
Medal record
Men's para-athletics
Representing Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg Hong Kong
Paralympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1996 Atlanta 4 × 100 m T34–37
Representing Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong, China
Paralympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 100 m T36
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 200 m T36
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Sydney 400 m T36
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Athens 200 m T36
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Beijing 200 m T36
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 100 m T36
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2004 Athens 400 m T36
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 London 200 m T36
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Sydney 4×100 m T38
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2000 Sydney 4×400 m T38
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Beijing 100 m T36
IPC World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Christchurch 100 m T36
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2013 Lyon 200 m T36

So Wa-wai (Chinese :蘇樺偉; Jyutping :sou1 waa4 wai5; born on 6th October 1981) [1] is a retired athlete from Hong Kong who has competed in the Paralympic Games on five occasions, winning 12 medals. He has been referred to as the "Wonder Boy" (Chinese :神奇小子; Jyutping :san4 kei4 siu2 zi2) by Hong Kong people.

Contents

Early life

So was born with jaundice which affected both his hearing and the balance of his limbs, and hence competes in the T36 classification [2] for athletes with cerebral palsy. At the age of 10, his enthusiasm for running was noticed by athletics coach Poon Kin-lui, who then began to formally train So. [3]

Paralympic career

His first Paralympic appearance came at the 1996 games in Atlanta, where he won a gold medal as part of the men's 4×100 m relay team in the T34–37 classification. [4]

Over the course of the next two summer Paralympic Games, 2000 in Sydney and 2004 in Athens, So won four gold and two silver medals in a range of individual events, up to a distance of 400 m, as well as two bronze medals in relay events. [4]

In 2008, So was chosen to be part of the torch relay as the Olympic flame passed through Hong Kong on its way to Beijing. [5] However, his participation in the games themselves was put into doubt when an injury to his father rendered him unable to work. So was forced to give up his training and take up a full-time job to support his family. In response, Andy Lau, a Hong Kong entertainer and the singer of the Beijing Paralympic Games official theme song "Flying with the Dream", [6] gave him a full-time job with the flexibility to allow him to train for the Games. [3]

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, So led the Hong Kong team into the Bird's Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony as the flagbearer. [7] He first won a bronze medal in the 100 m, a performance with which he was disappointed with, [3] followed by a sixth place in the 400 m. In the 200 m T36 final, he broke his own world record with a time of 24.64 seconds [8] on the way to winning the gold medal, [9] making him the Paralympic champion in that event for the third successive occasion. After the race, he said he had been ill before the competition and that, "During the first part of today's competition I did not run at my normal speed"; he attributed his win to both "good luck" and "practice". [10]

So retired from competition in January 2016 and began to work for the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled that year. [11]

So is the current[ when? ] world record holder in both the 100 and 200 m men's T36 classification. [3]

In 2021, So's story was adapted into the film Zero to Hero (Chinese :媽媽的神奇小子; lit.'Mom's Wonder Boy'), starring Sandra Ng and Leung Chung-hang. [12] The film focuses on So's perseverance. In response to the film's fictional elements and dramatisation of So's story, Hong Kong Paralympic Committee chief Martin Lam Chun-ying said that, "There's no way his brother would sell his gold medals". [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Summer Olympics</span> Multi-sport event in Beijing, China

The 2008 Summer Olympics (2008年夏季奥运会), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (第二十九届夏季奥林匹克运动会) and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (北京2008), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 28 sports and 302 events, one event more than those scheduled for the 2004 Summer Olympics. This was the first time China had hosted the Olympic Games, and the third time the Summer Olympic Games had been held in East Asia, following the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. These were also the second Summer Olympic Games to be held in a communist state, the first being the 1980 Summer Olympics in the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Summer Paralympics</span> Multi-parasport event in Beijing, China

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was first time the new Paralympic logo featured in the Summer Paralympics since its rebranding after the 2004 Summer Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 East Asian Games</span>

The 2009 East Asian Games, officially known as the V East Asian Games, was an international multi-sport event that hosted by Hong Kong, between 5 December and 13 December 2009. A total of 2,377 athletes from 9 East Asian national competed in 262 events in 22 sports. It was the biggest sporting event ever held in the territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Wilson</span> Hong Kong swimmer (born 1989)

Hannah Jane Arnett Wilson is a Hong Kong retired amateur swimmer. She is a three-time Olympic swimmer for Hong Kong, having swum at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She has won two career Universiade gold medals. As of July 11, 2009, Wilson currently holds 10 Hong Kong records and two Universiade records in swimming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia Borlée</span> Belgian sprinter

Olivia Borlée is a retired Belgian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Her personal best time in the 200 is 22.98 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels. She has a personal best of 11.39 seconds in the 100 metres. She won a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics with teammates Hanna Mariën, Élodie Ouédraogo, and Kim Gevaert in a time of 42.54 seconds, which set a new Belgian record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark at the 2008 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Denmark competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. This is a list of all of the Danish athletes who qualified for the Olympics and their results. The goal set out by Team Danmark and the Danish Sports' Union was seven medals. The distribution of gold, silver and bronze medals in this goal were not specified.

The women's sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 19 at the Laoshan Velodrome.

Lai Chun Ho is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Hong Kong.

Wan Kin Yee is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirjam de Koning</span> Dutch Paralympic swimmer

Mirjam de Koning is a Dutch paraplegic swimmer.

Alison Yu Chui-yee is a wheelchair fencer from Hong Kong. When she was 11 years old, she had bone cancer, leading to the amputation of her left leg. She began as a swimmer but switched to fencing at the age of 17. At the 2004 Summer Paralympics, she won four gold medals in both the individual and team events of épée and foil. She was the first athlete to win four gold medals in fencing in category A in 2004. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, she represented Hong Kong again, but since the team matches were canceled, she only won one gold and one silver medal in the individual events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liu Wenjun</span> Chinese Paralympic athlete

Liu Wenjun is a Paralympian athlete from China competing mainly in category T54 wheelchair sprint and middle-distance events.

Lau Sui-fei is a table tennis player. She competed at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. She started playing table tennis when she was eight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong at the Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Hong Kong made its Paralympic Games début at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, and has taken part in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics. It has never participated in the Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherry Tsai</span> Hong Kong swimmer (born 1983)

Sherry Tsai is a retired swimmer from Hong Kong. She competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics in the 50 m freestyle, 100 m and 200 m backstroke, and 200 m individual medley, with the best achievement of 28th place. She attended and swam for the University of California, Berkeley in the USA.

Men's 200m races for athletes with cerebral palsy at the 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in the Athens Olympic Stadium between 20 & 26 September. Events were held in four disability classes.

Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong at the 2018 Asian Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Hong Kong competed at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia, from 18 August to 2 September 2018. Hong Kong made its debut at the Asian Games in 1954 Manila, and the best achievement for the territory was in 2010 Asian Games held in neighboring Guangzhou, finishing with 8 gold, 15 silver and 17 bronze medals totaling 40 medals. At the previous edition in held 4 years later in Incheon, the total number of medals increased to 42, but the number of gold medals fell to 6. In Indonesia the performance of local athletes was satisfactory, improving the results obtained in 2010 and 2014 with 46 medals achieving the best results at the games.

Tang Wai-lok is a Hong Kong Paralympic swimmer, he classifies as a class S14 Paraswimmer.

<i>Zero to Hero</i> (film) 2021 Hong Kong film directed by Jimmy Wan

Zero to Hero is a 2021 Hong Kong biographical sports drama film directed by Jimmy Wan. The film is based on the true story of medal-winning Paralympian So Wa-wai, who overcame personal and physical struggles with the help of his mother to emerge a winner.

References

  1. ↑ "Athlete Biography: SO Wa Wai". Beijing2008.cn. The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  2. ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBCSport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "So Wa-wai -- 'Forrest Gump' of Hong Kong wins 100m T36 bronze". Beijing2008.cn. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  4. 1 2 "So Wa Wai". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
  5. ↑ "Torchbearer So Wa Wai hands over the flame to equestrian Nelson Yip Siu-hong". Beijing2008.cn. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "Beijing Paralympic theme song shows love for life". China Daily .
  7. ↑ "2008 Summer Paralympics: Opening Ceremony - Flagbearers List" (PDF). Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Official results of men's 200m – T36" (PDF). Beijing2008.cn. The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "So Wa Wai wins Men's 200m T36 gold medal". Beijing2008.cn. The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  10. ↑ "HK veteran breaks world record to take Paralympics gold". China Daily . Retrieved 16 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "So Wa Wai — An ordinary life with an ordinary heart". JCI Hong Kong. 14 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Lee, Edmund (11 August 2021). "Zero to Hero movie review: Hong Kong Paralympic champion So Wa-wai's life spawns a touching sports comedy". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  13. ↑ Andrew McNicol (24 August 2021). "Tokyo Paralympics: Hong Kong Committee chief says So Wa-wai biopic 'doesn't make us feel comfortable'". South China Morning Post .

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.