Wong Kam-po SBS MH (, born 13 March 1973) is a

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 List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling s ...

. A specialist in

road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, at age 34 he became a

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

world champion in the scratch race of the 2007 World Championships, which was not his specialty. Wong Kam-po is a five-time Olympian (the most of any Hong Kong athlete) and much-lauded sports icon. He won Asian Games individual road race three times (

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) under competition from Pro tour cyclists of Central Asia countries such as Kazakhstan. He won also track World Cup twice. Latterly, he was a coach with the Hong Kong cycling national set-up.

Biography

Early career and Asian Games gold medalist

Wong Kam-po joined the Hong Kong cycling team in 1990. He quit the team after allegedly fighting with a teammate. After meeting his current coach (), he rejoined the team and began a successful career, winning golds in the National Games of China (1997 and 2001) and the Asian Games (

). His 1997 win of the Philippine Marlboro Tour was the only championship by a non-Filipino in the event. In 1992, he was banned from international races for one year for deserting the trouble-plagued 1992 pre-Olympic training squad in France, in support of his coach Chow Tat-ming who was in dispute with the

Hong Kong Cycling Association The Hong Kong Cycling Association (in Traditional Chinese: 香港單車聯會) or HKCA is the national governing body of cycle racing in Hong Kong. It is a member of the UCI and the Asian Cycling Confederation. See also * Hong Kong Cycling ...

over wages. Wong returned to racing in the opening race of the 1993-94 season.'Heavyweight' Wong surprised by recall to national side
SCMP, 19 January 1994 He won his third Asian Games Gold Medal in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

2007 World Champion in scratch race

A specialist in

, at age 34 he became a

world champion in the scratch race of the 2007 World Championships, which is not his specialty. In the race, he overtook the lead pack with nine laps remaining and crossed the finishing line at 17 minutes 45 seconds. He earned the right to wear the

Rainbow Jersey The rainbow jersey is the distinctive jersey worn by the reigning world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the c ...

for the year 2007-08.

2008 and 2012 Olympics

Wong performed well at the 2007

UCI B World Championships The UCI B World Championships were the world championship for Level B bicycle road racing and bicycle time trials organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) for nations with developing competitive cycling. The UCI B World Championships in ...

road race, with a 4th-place finish. He qualified for the track cycling points race of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished at the 15th out of 23 cyclists. He is the flag bearer for

. At the 2012 London Olympics, Wong Kam-Po was the sole Hong Kong rider to attend Men's road race. He finished 37th, just 40 seconds behind winner Alexander Vinokurov.

As a sports icon

Wong Kam-Po is a consistent performer. During his lengthy career, he is always able to get precious win in international sports events for Hong Kong. He got "Best of the Best" title of Hong Kong Sports Stars Award in 2006, 2007 and 2010. In 2007 he became the first HongKonger World Champion cyclist and thereby became the sports icon of Hong Kong. On 29 June 2007,

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...

, the President of China, visited Hong Kong and met Wong. Hu commented, "you brought glory for Hong Kong and for your country. You are a darling more precious than gold." (Chinese: 你為香港、為國家爭得了榮譽，你是比黃金還珍貴的寶貝) Hu's remarks became a viral

wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phon ...

on Wong Kam-po's name, as ''Po'' means darling and ''Wong Kam'' means gold. After Wong Kam-Po won his third Asian Games Gold Medal in

, Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing said, "I would like to pay my particular tribute to our cyclist Wong Kam-po who has won three gold, one silver and one bronze, including the gold medal grabbed today, during his various performances at the Asian Games. He epitomises Hong Kong people's determination and perseverance. This is legendary." Wong was the first Hong Kong rider to gain Category One status in Europe.

After professional cyclist career

Wong Kam-Po became a coach of Hong Kong National cycling team after retirement in 2013. In 2017, Wong left coach position and joined Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.

Brand Spokesman and TV advertisement

Wong Kam-Po was spokesman of Giant Bicycles, KMC Chain, Polar cycling computer covering Greater China Regions. He is also Hong Kong region spokesman of Nike, Uniqlo, Panasonic etc. PO is the protagonist of commercial TV advertisements including 2007 : Hong Kong School of Motoring - Safety drive. 2011 : Beauty Choice - Skeleton Plus. 2011 : Dah Sing Life Insurance - Hong Kong Spirit. 2015 : Dah Sing Life Insurance - Wong Kam Po vs Shark. 2022 : Panasonic - Golden Rice Cooker.

2023 Asian Games bid

Wong Kam-po is a supporter of Hong Kong's 2019 Asian Games, 2023 Asian Games bid. On 29 November 2010, speaking at the Legislative Council Home Affairs Panel special meeting on the proposed hosting of the 2023 Asian Games, Wong Kam-po said political parties' resistance to the proposal broke his heart. He said Hong Kong needs the spirit of sport, urging legislators to view the issue from a long-term and global perspective.

Palmarès

;1995 :1st

Tour de Okinawa The is an annual professional road bicycle racing classic one-day race held in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It was first started in 1989 as an amateur race, but became professional in 1999. It became part of the UCI Asia Tour The UCI Continental ...

:1st Pacific Ocean Games ;1997 : 1st General Classification Tour of the Philippines ;1998 : 1st

;1999 : 1st General Classification Tour of South China Sea ;2000 : 1st Stage 4

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually con ...

: 1st

: 1st in Stage 3 Tour of South China Sea ;2001 : 1st Meridian Circuit, Englewood, Colorado (USA) : 1st Stage 10 Superweek International Cycling Classic (USA) : 1st Road Race, Asian Championships : 1st General Classification Tour of South China Sea :: 1st Stage 2 :: 1st Stage 3 :: 1st Stage 4 :

::1st Asian Rider Classification ;2002 : 3rd Road Race, Asian Championships : 3rd Road Race,

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 ...

: 1st Stage 5

Tour of Wellington The New Zealand Cycle Classic (previously known as the Tour of Wellington) is a road cycling race held in and around the Wairarapa near Wellington, New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pa ...

: 1st Stage 7

: 3rd Langnau (SUI) : 1st Stage 4

Tour of Qinghai Lake The Tour of Qinghai Lake is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in the Qinghai province of China since 2002, named after Qinghai Lake. The race is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.HC race as part of ...

;2003 : 1st Steinfurt (GER) : 1st Stage 3 Tour Nord-Isère (FRA) : 1st Stage 1

Tour de Korea The Tour de Korea is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in South Korea since 2000 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race between 2005 and 2013, then pro ...

: 1st Stage 5

: 1st Gippingen (SUI) : 1st Stage 1

: 2nd General Classification Tour of South China Sea ::1st Stage 2 ;2004 : 2nd Points Race, Asian Championships : 3rd Scratch Race, Asian Championships : 1st General Classification

Tour de Hokkaido The Tour de Hokkaido is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hokkaido, Japan since 1987 as part of the UCI Asia Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Stage 5 Tour d'Indonesia, Madiun (IDN) : 1st

(JPN) : 3rd General Classification Tour of South China Sea ;2005 : 1st Stage 7 Tour of South China Sea : 1st Stage 1

Tour of Siam The Tour of Siam was an annual professional road bicycle racing race stage, stage race held in Thailand from 2005 to 2007 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. Past winners General classification Points classification Mountains classification ...

: 1st in Stage 2 Tour of China, Hefei (CHN) : 1st in Stage 3 Tour of China, Hefei (CHN) : 1st in Stage 4 Tour of China, Hefei (CHN) : 1st in Stage 9 Tour d'Indonesia, DenPasar (IDN) : 2nd in General Classification Tour of South China Sea (HKG) ::1st in Stage 2 ::1st in Stage 4 ::1st in Stage 5 ::1st in Stage 6 ;2006 : 1st GP des fêtes du Coux et Bigaroque (FRA) : 1st Stage 3 Cepa Tour, Hong Kong, Asia World-Expo (HKG) : 1st Stage 4 Cepa Tour, Hong Kong Shatin (HKG) : 1st Stage 1

Tour of Japan The Tour of Japan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Japan since 1996 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race. History Tour of Japan was formed a ...

, Osaka (JPN) : 1st Road Race,

: 1st Stage 4 Tour of South China Sea ;2007 : 1st Stage 5 Jelajah Malaysia, Taiping (MAS) : 1st Stage 2

Tour de Taiwan The Tour de Taiwan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Taiwan since 1978, and has been part of the UCI Asia Tour since 2005. It has been classed a 2.1 category race for the first time in 2012. History The Tour de T ...

, Tainan (TPE) : 1st Scratch Race,

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, ...

: 2nd Hong Kong National Road Race Championships ;2008 : 1st Scratch Race, Track World Cup,Los Angeles (USA) : 1st in Stage 1

, Love River (TPE) : 1st in Stage 7

, Jingmao (TPE) ;2009 : 1st Point Race, Track World Cup, Copenhagen ;2010 : 1st Road Race,

: 2nd Point Race,

;2012 : 1st Stage 2

: 37th overall Men's road race, Summer Olympics

2009 National Games assault incident

In the week of 16 October, Wong Kam-po was preparing for the 11th National Games in

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

.Sina.com.
Sina.com
" ''全運會保安打黃金寶.'' Retrieved 2009-10-29. In preparing for the event, Wong and his team were 10 minutes early, and the security guards did not let them enter the venue.Sina.com.

" ''全運會保安推跌黃金寶.'' Retrieved 2009-10-29. The team was then assaulted by the security. Cyclist Wong Kam-po was pushed down to the floor by the guards. Hong Kong Sports Institute coach Zhang Pak-ming (張百鳴) was surrounded by four security guards and beaten. His leg was injured. A threat was also made to destroy the Hong Kong team's car. The incident was reported to the police, after which they were allowed to enter the venue. President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Timothy Fok, expressed concern about the case.