HK Olympian among favorites in ‘Hell’

Hong Kong Olympian Jamie Wong is among the early favorites in the women’s pro division in the 11th Hell of the Marianas Century Cycling Race set for Dec. 2.

Wong, who just turned 31 last Nov. 4, is set to arrive with five of her Success teammates on Nov. 30 via Hong Kong Express and the visiting bikers are expected to test the course a day before the early morning race around Saipan.

Five-time champion Mieko Carey of Guam has not to confirm if she would defend the women’s crown she won in 2008, 2010, and from 2014 to 2016. Pending Carey’s confirmation, this would leave Wong, Manami Iijima of Guam, Japan’s Yasue Nakahara, and Chau Yu Ng of Hong Kong to battle for the women’s championship.

Last year, Carey completed the punishing course in 3:33:28 to beat Iijima by more than 15 minutes and third placer Chika Fukomo of Japan by almost 25 minutes. The 2016 victory made Carey the winningest biker in the 100-kilometer race, breaking the record of Australia’s Jodie Willett. The Aussie won the HOM women’s title three times (2011 to 2013), while compatriot Amber Halliday ruled in 2009 and Susan Seay of Guam claimed the inaugural crown in 2007.

Wong hopes to make it to the winners circle of the century cycle race, as she is banking on her rich international experience to win her HOM debut. She competed in the women’s road race in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics in Beijing and London. She finished the London race in 3:57:00.

Wong is a decorated cyclist representing Hong Kong in several international races. She won the gold medal in the 2007-2008 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark after timing in at 25:55.840 in the 20-kilometer Points Race on Feb. 16, 2008. She finished with 27 points, beating hometown bet Trine Schmidt by four, while USA’s Theresa Cliff-Ryan settled for the bronze.

Before winning gold in Denmark, Wong, who was once ranked No. 1 in the World Cup series, settled for the women’s Points Race silver in the 2007 Asian Cycling Championships in Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand behind China’s Li Yan. Satomi Wadami of Japan clinched the bronze.

The Hong Kong biker also won the silver medal in the women’s Points Race in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China despite taking a fall early in the race and suffering a fractured rib and having bruises on her arms and knees. She settled for the bronze in the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea.

Wong also earned the No. 1 world ranking in the 2013-2014 Track Points Race, while also placing 15th in the World Cup the same year. She won the gold medal in a Manchester race in 2013 and is a four-time bronze medalist (2011 to 2014) in the Sliver Asia Championship.

Her other achievements included winning the Points Race in the Launceston Carnival in Tasmania, placing third in the International Track Challenge in Vienna and Australia both in 2008, and topping the Individual Pursuit and Points Race in the 2013 ACC Track Asia Cup in Thailand.

Wong also won the Individual Pursuit and Points Race in the 2014 Hong Kong International Track Cup then joined Meng Zhaojuan, Pang Yao, and Yang Qianyu to the title victory in the Team Pursuit. Their team also placed third in the Asian Track Championship in the 2014 Track Asia Cup and prevailed in the Individual Pursuit and Points Race categories.