Vivian Kong Wins Olympic Épée Gold, Hong Kong's First Women's Gold Since 1996

Vegan fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai has won Olympic gold in the women's individual épée in Paris, beating home favorite Auriane Mallo-Breton of France 13-12 with a sudden-death hit in overtime on Saturday, July 27.

Mallo-Breton led 8-3 at one stage of the final, but Kong fought back to level at 12-12 as the clock ran out, then landed the winning touch, Green Queen reports. She is Hong Kong's first female Olympic champion since windsurfer Lee Lai-shan at Atlanta 1996.

It is a remarkable comeback in every sense. Kong's place at the Games was in doubt after a knee injury just a month ago. She goes home as the world No. 1 and Olympic champion, and Hong Kong's HK$6 million (about US$770,000) reward for gold is the biggest prize money on offer at Paris 2024.

The 30-year-old went vegan in 2017 after surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament. She had been thinking about it for years, and stuck with it despite skepticism from other athletes and her own family. A year after the operation she won the Asian Championships, and she told the South China Morning Post in 2018 that the diet played a big part in her recovery:

I can be an example to show it’s possible, and it’s more motivation for me to work harder, have better results, and tell my story about how eating plant-based foods made me better and made me feel better too.

Six years on, she has the biggest prize in her sport.

We first covered Kong when she won Asian Championship épée gold in 2018. She went on to win the Havana World Cup and a world bronze, another world bronze in 2022, and last year she won in Cali and returned to world No. 1.

Powered by plants, and now an Olympic champion.