Exclusive - Vivian Kong: Inside the mind of a modern superhero and Olympic fencing champion
Vivian Kong, the Olympic women's epee champion known as "The Queen of Swords" told Laureus on behalf of Olympics.com on her next steps as she takes a break from fencing.
Fencing
It has been a whirlwind journey for Vivian Kong.
The fencer from Hong Kong, China won her NOC’s first gold medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and eight days later announced that she would be stepping away from the sport.
Coming off the back of a dream summer in Paris, the 30-year-old is ready to move on to pastures new and turn her attention to the next generation.
“Fencing was a huge part of my life for the longest time,” Kong said to Laureus on behalf of Olympics.com. “Everything I did was for fencing, to become a better fencer, a better athlete, to be more disciplined, everything I ate or just my sleep. There's so much more to life than fencing and sport.
“It's taught me so many life lessons: to have the right attitude to face any sort of difficulties, to not give up so easily, to have more faith and confidence in myself. I think it will be with me for the rest of my life.”
Fencing has given so much to Kong – now it is time for Vivian, Queen of Swords to reap the rewards.
Vivian Kong on Paris gold: “It's just been the longest dream”
Kong won Hong Kong, China’s first ever medal in women’s fencing, a sport in which the NOC has claimed three of their four Olympics golds.
She overcame the pressure of the home crowd at the Grand Palais to defeat French fencer Auriane Mallo-Breton 13-12 in overtime, a dramatic finale to a decorated professional career.
“I still can’t believe that I won gold in Paris because it's just been the longest dream,” Kong recalled. “At the same time, I didn't want to think about it too much every day. I just loved training, getting better at my sport. I enjoyed becoming a better athlete.
“But knowing how hard it is to win gold and having all these amazing opponents that I look up to, we all deserve gold medals, all those struggles and hardship that everyone has to go through in order to be on the piste at the Olympics is just unimaginable. I convinced myself that it's okay if I don't win, but I'll still work as hard as I could to try and win. So when I did win, it was a shock.”
Kong is nothing short of a history maker for her homeland. She was the 2018 Asian Games flagbearer for Hong Kong, China and became the first athlete representing the NOC to win either an Olympic fencing match or a World Cup title.
Now she has become Hong Kong’s first female Olympic champion in 28 years, since Lee Lai-shan secured sailing gold at Atlanta 1996.
Vivian Kong: Inspiring a generation on and off the piste
Kong’s announcement came only a week after she had won the gold medal, her first in three Olympic appearances dating back to Rio 2016.
She said on Instagram upon winning gold, “After competing in my third Olympics, I have decided to take a break from professional fencing. I look forward to starting a new career and work towards having my own charity to help kids find joy and playfulness back into sports.”
It came perhaps as a shock to the fencing world, yet it was perfect timing for Kong, who now wants to focus on further inspiring the new generation.
She explained, “Being an athlete has always been a very big part of my identity, especially in the past seven, eight years. Stepping away from that or trying to find out more to who I am to more than a fencer and to do more than be an athlete and to create a bigger impact and do more for the community has been something I've been thinking a lot about.”
It is all about encouraging young people back home to share the same passion that Kong has had for fencing, in what is a golden era for Hong Kong, China fencing.
Along with double Olympic men’s foil champion Cheung Ka-long, there has been a huge uptake in the sport across the territory, with a huge increase in facilities and people participating in the sport.
Kong concluded, “I hope that kids and everyone watching can see how much passion and dedication we put into our sport, into something we love, and to have the courage to pursue our dreams and to really give it our all to something we truly enjoy with all our hearts.
“Even if we don't win, it's okay, and trying to be okay with that and still work really, really hard every day.”