Fencer Vivian Kong Man Wai is a World Cup and Asian Championships gold medallist, and a World Championships semi-finalist in the women’s épée. Kong has ranked in the Top 10 competitors in her discipline globally since the 2016-17 season, and was ranked overall No. 1 in 2018-19 according to the International Fencing Federation.

Kong began fencing aged 11, and was competing internationally by her late teens. Today she trains for over five hours a day, with the support of coach Octavian Petru Zidaru, and combines her technical practice with cross-training and yoga. On the World Cup circuit, Kong has had considerable success, with numerous podium finishes including at events in Leipzig, Legnano, Tallin and Dubai. In 2019, she sensationally won a gold medal at Havana, becoming the first fencer from Hong Kong to win a World Cup title. She followed this within weeks with a second victory in Barcelona, and would ultimately end the season in first position.

Meanwhile, at the Asian Championships, Kong has been part of the sensational Hong Kong women’s team that has medalled at six consecutive tournaments. The team have won five bronzes during this time, and Kong took home a silver medal with the team in 2018 alongside Chu Ka Mong, Kaylin Hsieh and Coco Lin. Individually, Kong netted her first Asian Championships silver in 2017, and returned the following year to take home gold in Bangkok. Elsewhere, Kong competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she made it to the Round of 16, and she landed a bronze medal in the individual épée at the 2019 World Fencing Championships in Budapest.