In 1996, Lee Lai-shan made history by becoming the first person to win an Olympic gold medal (or indeed a medal of any kind) for Hong Kong. The event: windsurfing. The celebrating continued for months, and windsurfing prowess became part of the local identity, drawing a new wave of interest in a city mostly surrounded by sea.

Ho Chi-ho and Vicky Chan, now a married couple, benefitted from increased government funding for the sport after Lee’s high-profile victory, and followed in her footsteps, competing in the Olympic Games and Asian Games from 1998 to 2010. Although now retired from competing, they head up the Hiwindlover Water Sport Centre on Stanley Main Beach, one of Hong Kong’s most popular places for learning windsurfing and other watersports.

‘Here, people from all walks of life come to windsurf as a way to escape the daily grind,’ says Chan. ‘As for me, I am no longer single-mindedly focused on winning, and now think about how to promote the sport.’