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

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. 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 (), were a regional multi-sport event held from November 12 to 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China (although several events commenced ear ...

, 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, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, 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, were 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 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 for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

held in

Incheon Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, 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 gymna ...

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; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 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 is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, 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 ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

held in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, 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 Gymnasts at the 2024 Summer Olympics