In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Lee. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, the Western-style name is Sarah Lee and the Chinese-style name is Lee Wai Sze.
Lee became a full-time athlete in 2004.[8][9] Initially trained as a road cyclist, Lee was in danger of bowing out of cycling after a serious accident in 2006 as she swerved to avoid a stray dog during training, where she suffered a broken left scaphoid bone.[10] Lee is coached by Jinkang Shen,[1] who has also coached other successful Hong Kong cyclist including Kam-Po Wong.[11]
After the Olympics, Lee had a perfect start in the 2012–13 World Cup opening series with a gold medal in the women's sprint in Cali, Colombia, which is her first victory in a World Cup event.[27] This is followed by a bronze in women's keirin in the second leg, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland.[28] Lee won her first medal in 2013 by coming third in the women's sprint event in the third leg of the 2012–13 World Cup series.[29]
In February 2013, Lee carried on her good form and won gold in the women's 500m time-trial at the World Track Championships in Belarus.[30][31] She became the first female and third overall athlete from Hong Kong to wear rainbow jersey. After the gold, Lee beat Guo Shuang of China in Women's Sprint and won a bronze medal, securing her second medal in Minsk. This is the first time any HK athlete won multiple medals at a World Championship event.
2014
At the 2014 Asian Games, she won gold medals in Keirin and Sprint. She also won gold in the Asian Cycling Championships for Keirin and 500m time-trial, plus a bronze in Sprint.
2016
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the keirin competition, she advanced to second round after coming in first in her heat. However, in the second round, she crashed after colliding with Anna Meares of Australia and could not finish the race.[32] She was placed 7th in the competition. On the next day, despite still nursing her injuries from her crash from yesterday, she competed in the sprint competition. She won in first and second rounds but lost to Kristina Vogel of Germany in the quarterfinals. She finished 6th in this competition.
2018
Lee successfully defended her title in Keirin and 200m time-trial at the 2018 Asian Games.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, Lee competed in both sprint and Keirin. In the keirin event, she lost in her heat in the first round but won in the repechage to advance to quarterfinals. She finished first in her quarterfinal heat to advance to the semifinals. However, she finished 5th in her heat and competed in the B Final for placement. She finished 8th overall in this event. In the sprint event, Lee advanced to 1/16 finals but lost to Katy Marchant of Great Britain to fall into the repechage. She won in the repechage and advanced to 1/8 final. She won in 1/8 final and quarterfinal. In the semifinals, she lost to Olena Starikova from Ukraine and had to race in the bronze medal match against the reigning world champion Emma Hinze of Germany. She won the bronze medal match[32] and became the first Hong Kong Olympian with medals from different Olympic Games.
Personal life
Lee's idol is Great Britain's six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy.[33]
