Shek Wai Hung (; born 10 October 1991) is an artistic gymnast from

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. He is the current Asian Games champion on vault.

Gymnastics career

Shek started gymnast training at the age of six. In 2008, Shek participated in the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, where he won a gold medal in the junior vault final. At the

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

, Shek placed eighth in the individual all-around, and sixth on vault. In 2011, Shek participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, where he qualified fourth with an average score of 16.237 into the vault final – the first time ever for a Hong Kong gymnast to qualify into an event final at World Championships level. He came seventh in the final, having taken a big step forward on his first vault, with an average score of 15.950. Shek qualified to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

via the Olympic Test Event in January that year. There, he finished 12th in the all-around qualification with a score of 86.482. This was the first time for Hong Kong to qualify two gymnasts, Shek and teammate

Angel Wong Wong Chui-ling, Angel () or better known as Chui Ling to her many fans is a Hong Kong-born Malaysia-based host, speaker, soft skills coach, TV and radio personality, and entrepreneur. The success of her TV and radio programmes has long ago ceme ...

to artistic gymnastics competition at the Olympic Games. The Olympics, however, proved to be a disappointing one to him. A fall on his first vault during qualification prevents Shek from advancing into the vault final, his strongest event. Despite consideration of retiring from elite gymnastics, Shek continued his training after the disappointment at the London Olympics. In 2014, Shek participated in the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

held in

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, in which he had a surprising victory over the reigning Olympic Champion, World Champion and Asian Games champion on vault,

Yang Hak-seon Yang Hak-seon ( ; born 6 December 1992) is a South Korean artistic gymnast who specialises in the vault. He is the first South Korean gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal. Personal life According to his Olympic profile, Yang started his gymn ...

by a narrow margin of 0.016 points. Shek also made history of being the first gymnast from Hong Kong to win a medal in artistic gymnastics event at the Asian Games. Just two weeks after the Asian Games, Shek took part in the

2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Nanning, China at the Guangxi Gymnasium from 3–12 October 2014. The competition was the fourth time a World Artistic Gymnastics Championships has been held in the continent of Asia. ...

Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, where he came sixth in the vault final with an average score of 14.999. In 2015, Shek competed at the

held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, where he came 36th in the individual all-around qualification and 10th on vault, being the second reserve of the vault final. In 2018, Shek participated in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, where he won the gold medal in the Men's Vault.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shek, Wai Hung 1991 births Living people Hong Kong male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Hong Kong Gymnasts at the 2010 Asian Games Gymnasts at the 2014 Asian Games Gymnasts at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Hong Kong Asian Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games