Grace Lau Mo-sheung of Hong Kong competes in the ranking round of the women's kata event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Aug 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (VINCENT THIAN/AP)
HONG KONG - Grace Lau Mo-sheung made history on Thursday by clinching Hong Kong's first medal in karate in the Olympic Games.
Lau scored 26.94 – 18.9 in technical performance and 8.04 in athletic performance – to beat Turkey’s Bozan Dilara by a score of 0.42, winning bronze at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
It is the second medal for Hong Kong in one day. Hong Kong's table tennis team defeated Germany earlier in the day to win the bronze medal in the women’s team event.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor congratulated Lau on her victory.
"Grace Lau impressed us with well-executed moves in her own rhythm. Her marvelous performance was a showcase of talent with great strength, speed and beauty," Lam said in a statement.
Hong Kong residents watch the live broadcast at East Point City in Tseung Kwan O of karate exponent Grace Lau Mo-sheung competing at the kata event at the Tokyo Olympics, Aug 5, 2021 (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY
"After performing very well and winning various medals at international competitions in recent years, she continued to give an outstanding performance at the Tokyo Olympics today and won a bronze medal, which is well deserved," Lam added.
Lau was the women's kata bronze medallist at the 18th Asian Games in 2018. In the same year, she won a bronze medal in the women's kata event at the WKF Senior World Championships, becoming the first Hong Kong medallist of the competition.
She also won the Female Individual Kata silver at the 16th AKF Senior Championships in 2019.
Apart from Thursday’s two bronze medals, Hong Kong has so far won one gold and two silvers in the 2020 Games.
