Hong Kong clinched its third-ever gold medal in the Olympics in Paris on Jul. 28 (Singapore time).

Vivian Kong Man Wai came back from a six-point deficit in the women's épée finals against world No. 1, France's Auriane Mallo-Breton.

With her home crowd behind her and French President Emmanuel Macron watching, Breton opened up a 7-1 lead during the start, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Kong managed to claw her way back into a 12-12 tie.

Her winning hit was struck during overtime, sealing a 13-12 victory, according to match updates from the Paris Olympics 2024 website.

"I didn't want to lose so badly," she said.

"I didn’t want to give up without showing the Hong Kong spirit."

Third-ever gold medal

Kong is also Hong Kong's first-ever female fencer to win a gold medal.

Windsurfer Lee Lai-shan won the city's first-ever gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

Hong Kong's second gold medal was won by fencer Cheung Ka-long in men's foil during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Top photo via HK01