Shek Wai Hung

Shek Wai Hung
— Gymnast —
Full name	Shek Wai Hung
Nickname(s)	Stone [1]
Country represented	Hong Kong
Born	October 10, 1991 Hong Kong
Medal record Artistic gymnastics Representing  Hong Kong Asian Games 2014 Incheon Vault Asian Championships 2015 Hiroshima Vault 2015 Hiroshima Horizontal Bar Pacific Rim Championships 2012 Everett Vault 2010 Melbourne Vault 2014 Richmond Vault

Shek Wai Hung, (Chinese: 石偉雄; born 10 October 1991) is an artistic gymnast from Hong Kong. He is the current Asian Games champion on vault.^[2]

Gymnastics career

Shek started gymnast training at the age of six.^[3] In 2008, Shek participated in the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships, where he won a gold medal in the junior vault final.^[4] At the 2010 Asian Games, Shek placed eighth in the individual all-around, and sixth on vault.

In 2011, Shek participated in the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, where he qualified fourth with an average score of 16.237^[5] 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.^[6]

Shek qualified to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the United Kingdom via the Olympic Test Event in January that year. There, he finished 12th in the all-around qualification with a score of 86.482.^[7] This was the first time for Hong Kong to qualify two gymnasts, Shek and fellow teammate Angel Wong to artistic gymnastics competition at the Olympic Games.^[8] 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.^[9]

Despite consideration of retiring from elite gymnastics, Shek continued his training after the disappointment at the London Olympics.^[10] In 2014, Shek participated in the Asian Games held in Incheon, Korea, in which he had a surprising victory over the reigning Olympic Champion, World Champion and Asian Games champion on vault, Yang Hak-seon by a narrow margin of 0.016 points.^[11] Shek also made history of being the first gymnast from Hong Kong to win a medal in artistic gymnastics event at the Asian Games.^[12] Just two weeks after the Asian Games, Shek took part in the 2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Nanning, China, where he came sixth in the vault final with an average score of 14.999.^[13]

In 2015, Shek competed at the World Championships held in Glasgow, the United Kingdom, where he came 36th in the individual all-around qualification^[14] and 10th on vault,^[15] being the second reserve of the vault final.

References

1. "SHEK Wai Hung". FIG Database. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
2. "Shek Wai-hung saves his sport after clinching Hong Kong's first gymnastics gold". South China Morning Post. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
3. "SHEK Wai Hung". FIG Database. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
4. "2008 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships - Vault Final Junior MAG". Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
5. "2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Vault Qualification (2 Vaults)" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
6. "2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Vault Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
7. "2012 Olympic Test Event - Men's All Around Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
8. "黃曉盈躍進奧運與石偉雄倫敦獻技". 新浪網. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
9. "2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Vault Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
10. Chan, Kin-wah (27 September 2014). "Shek Wai-hung in Asian Games dreamland after Olympic nightmare". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
11. "2014 Asian Games - Artistic Gymnastics - Men's Vault Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
12. "Shek Wai-hung saves his sport after clinching Hong Kong's first gymnastics gold". South China Morning Post. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
13. "2014 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Vault Final" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
14. "2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Individual All-Around Qualification" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
15. "2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships - Men's Vault Qualification (2 Vaults)" (PDF). Gymnastics Results. Retrieved 29 January 2016.