Audrey King was just five years old when she visited Beijing for the Olympics in 2008. She remembered experiencing the elation at the events, feeling star-struck by gymnasts and snapping pictures outside the famous Bird’s Nest stadium.
Little did she know that she would return to the same city nearly 14 years later – no longer as a spectator, but as an athlete representing her home, Hong Kong, in the Winter Olympics.
“For me, it’s a really full-circle moment,” said King, now 19.
The alpine skier’s snowy journey started at the young age of four on the mountains of Japan. Her father, a ski enthusiast, would take the family on ski trips every winter when she had school holidays.
“We got a good amount of time on snow [while] growing up,” recalled the Olympian about how her passion began.
It was not until King was 13 that she came across an opportunity to ski competitively.
“We heard that the Hong Kong ski team [was] holding their trials. Whatever that meant, I had no idea,” King chuckled, adding that this was back when the city’s team had just started to take shape.
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After trying out, the young skier made it onto the team, which gave her access to professional training and a taste of racing.
“For me now, it’s more fun racing because it is a really different thing from just free skiing. You kind of have a different purpose in mind,” she said, explaining that racing required her to focus on the course, her speed and her turns.
When she was 17, King represented Hong Kong at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games schussing down the snowy slopes of Switzerland.
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But living in a subtropical city meant extra hurdles for the skier to train – not to mention she was a full-time student. She described her schedule as “pretty crazy”, juggling her studies while flying in and out of the city to train.
In summers, she would train in Austria or South America before returning to Hong Kong for school. From late December to March, she would take off again to continue training abroad.
“My school would still send me work,” said the Chinese International School graduate.
“I’d still have to do it abroad and learn the material myself. But they ... supported me through that.”
Some of the athlete’s most hectic days were in January 2021, when she needed to prepare for her university entrance exams – while training overseas.
King would go out at about 7am, ski until noon and rest for a bit before studying. She remembered chugging a Red Bull to stay focused and alert while sitting for mock exams that lasted three to four hours.
By the time she finished, it would already be midnight. Her frantic schedule continued for two weeks.
“Once that was over, it was like a breath of fresh air,” said King.
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Luckily for her, the taxing days balancing her time on the snow and in her studies paid off that year when she received an acceptance letter to the prestigious Harvard University.
As exciting as it was, King chose to defer her admission by a year to focus on skiing.
“Before this point, my attention was very split between school and skiing. I couldn’t really get the most out of either one,” said the future Harvard student.
So she decided to dedicate all her energy towards her sport – especially with the 2022 Winter Olympics right around the corner.
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But just at the start of this season, the athlete suffered a minor injury to her knees and another on her ankle, where doctors found ruptured tendons. They advised her to get surgery.
Knowing that the Olympics were closing in, the teen opted not to have the operation and, instead, relied on her body to heal itself.
“Even though they were minor, it definitely took a toll, but I’m just happy I got to where I was and where I am today,” she said.
Last December, King was competing in a race in Montenegro, and she needed just one more strong finish to qualify for the Games in Beijing.
After she sprinted through her last race and crossed the finishing line, she looked at her time – she had made it.
It was the best moment of her career, she said.
“At that moment, I kind of just collapsed,” recalled King. “Then, I just felt tears in my eyes because it’s been such a long season.”
The skier was all set for her momentous return to Beijing for the Winter Olympics. However, her once-in-a-lifetime experience took a slight detour last week as she tested positive for Covid-19 when she arrived in Beijing.
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With just 10 days before her first event, there came the possibility that she would not be able to make her Olympic debut.
Fortunately, last Wednesday she had two consecutive negative Covid-19 test results – good enough for her to be discharged from isolation, though authorities would continue to closely monitor her health.
“Definitely not how I expected my Olympic experience to start – I’m just happy and grateful that I was able to test negative so quickly,” the Olympian said.
This Wednesday, King is set to compete in the women’s slalom event at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre.
As part of the largest delegation Hong Kong has ever sent to the Winter Games, King is amazed by how far winter sports have come in the city.
“I hope it will be inspirational to the next generation of winter sports athletes in Hong Kong,” said the alpine skier.
Returning to Beijing for a different Olympic Games, King said she still remembered how stirring it felt the first time.
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“It was really surreal being surrounded by that kind of atmosphere,” recalled the athlete. “I hope that I can revisit that feeling when I compete in the Games.”
The rising skier said she did not have ambitious goals for her first Olympics, but just hoped to be in her best form and to savour every moment of the experience.
“My entire racing career is essentially a race against myself,” she explained.
“If I can reach them [my standards] and ski to my full ability, I’d walk away from the Games really happy no matter the result.”
