So Wa-wai

{{Infobox sportsperson

| headercolor = yellow

| name = So Wa-wai

| image = So Wa Wai 2009.JPG

| image_size =

| caption = So Wa-wai at the Hong Kong Book Fair, 2009

| residence =

| disability_class = T36

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|10|6|df=yes}}

| birth_place = British Hong Kong

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{convert|172|cm|ftin}} (2021)

| weight =

| sport = para-athletics

| event = 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's para-athletics }}

{{MedalCountry | {{HKG-CHN}} }}

}}

So Wa-wai ({{zh|t=蘇樺偉|j=sou¹ waa⁴ wai⁵}}; born on 6th October 1981){{cite web |title=Athlete Biography: SO Wa Wai |website=Beijing2008.cn |publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games |url=http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRMP/ENG/BIO/Athlete/8/1202928.shtml |access-date=2008-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912212344/http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRMP/ENG/BIO/Athlete/8/1202928.shtml |archive-date=2008-09-12 }} is a retired athlete from Hong Kong who has competed in the Paralympic Games on five occasions, winning 12 medals. He has been referred to as the "Wonder Boy" ({{zh|t=神奇小子|j=san⁴ kei⁴ siu² zi²}}) by Hong Kong people.

Early life

So was born with jaundice which affected both his hearing and the balance of his limbs, and hence competes in the T36 classification{{cite web |title=A-Z of Paralympic classification |publisher=BBCSport |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/disability_sport/7586684.stm |accessdate=2008-09-16 |date=2008-08-28}} for athletes with cerebral palsy. At the age of 10, his enthusiasm for running was noticed by athletics coach Poon Kin-lui, who then began to formally train So.{{cite web |url=http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/athletics/n214594222.shtml |title=So Wa-wai -- 'Forrest Gump' of Hong Kong wins 100m T36 bronze |website=Beijing2008.cn |publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad |access-date=2008-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912035233/http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/athletics/n214594222.shtml |archive-date=2008-09-12 |url-status=dead}}

Paralympic career

His first Paralympic appearance came at the 1996 games in Atlanta, where he won a gold medal as part of the men's 4×100 m relay team in the T34–37 classification.{{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/wa-wai-so |title=So Wa Wai |website=Paralympic.org |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=}}

Over the course of the next two summer Paralympic Games, 2000 in Sydney and 2004 in Athens, So won four gold and two silver medals in a range of individual events, up to a distance of 400 m, as well as two bronze medals in relay events.

In 2008, So was chosen to be part of the torch relay as the Olympic flame passed through Hong Kong on its way to Beijing.{{cite web |url=http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/hongkong/photos/n214336392.shtml |title=Torchbearer So Wa Wai hands over the flame to equestrian Nelson Yip Siu-hong |website=Beijing2008.cn |publisher=The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906225806/http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/hongkong/photos/n214336392.shtml |archive-date=2008-09-06 |url-status=dead}} However, his participation in the games themselves was put into doubt when an injury to his father rendered him unable to work. So was forced to give up his training and take up a full-time job to support his family. In response, Andy Lau, a Hong Kong entertainer and the singer of the Beijing Paralympic Games official theme song "Flying with the Dream",{{cite news |title=Beijing Paralympic theme song shows love for life |work=China Daily |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/paralympics/2008-09/06/content_7005411.htm}} gave him a full-time job with the flexibility to allow him to train for the Games.

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, So led the Hong Kong team into the Bird's Nest Stadium during the opening ceremony as the flagbearer.{{cite web |url=http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/News/Press_Releases/Flagbearers_List_Opening_Ceremony_Final_5_Sept1.pdf |title=2008 Summer Paralympics: Opening Ceremony - Flagbearers List |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |website=Paralympic.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080909184931/http://www.paralympic.org/release/Main_Sections_Menu/News/Press_Releases/Flagbearers_List_Opening_Ceremony_Final_5_Sept1.pdf |archive-date=2008-09-09}} He first won a bronze medal in the 100 m, a performance with which he was disappointed with, followed by a sixth place in the 400 m. In the 200 m T36 final, he broke his own world record with a time of 24.64 seconds{{cite web |title=Official results of men's 200m – T36 |website=Beijing2008.cn |publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games |url=http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRMP/ENG/INF/AT/C73A/ATM230101.pdf |access-date=2008-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922220909/http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRMP/ENG/INF/AT/C73A/ATM230101.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-22 }} on the way to winning the gold medal,{{cite web |title=So Wa Wai wins Men's 200m T36 gold medal |website=Beijing2008.cn |publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games |url=http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/athletics/n214603877.shtml |access-date=2008-09-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921040329/http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/athletics/n214603877.shtml |archive-date=2008-09-21 }} making him the Paralympic champion in that event for the third successive occasion. After the race, he said he had been ill before the competition and that, "During the first part of today's competition I did not run at my normal speed"; he attributed his win to both "good luck" and "practice".{{cite news |title=HK veteran breaks world record to take Paralympics gold |work=China Daily |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/paralympics/2008-09/16/content_7029811.htm |access-date=2008-09-16}}

So retired from competition in January 2016 and began to work for the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled that year.{{Cite news |date=October 14, 2017 |title=So Wa Wai — An ordinary life with an ordinary heart |work=JCI Hong Kong |url=https://www.jcihk.org/mobile/news2.php?menuid=5&groupid=287&id=0&news2_id=88}}

So is the current{{When?|date=September 2024}} world record holder in both the 100 and 200 m men's T36 classification.

Related film

In 2021, So's story was adapted into the film Zero to Hero ({{zh|t=媽媽的神奇小子|l=Mom's Wonder Boy}}), starring Sandra Ng and Leung Chung-hang.{{cite news |first=Edmund |last=Lee |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3144643/zero-hero-movie-review-hong-kong-paralympic-champion-so-wa |title=Zero to Hero movie review: Hong Kong Paralympic champion So Wa-wai's life spawns a touching sports comedy |work=South China Morning Post |date=11 August 2021 |access-date=24 August 2021 }} The film focuses on So's perseverance. In response to the film's fictional elements and dramatisation of So's story, Hong Kong Paralympic Committee chief Martin Lam Chun-ying said that, "There's no way his brother would sell his gold medals".

{{cite magazine

|author=Andrew McNicol

|date=24 August 2021

|title=Tokyo Paralympics: Hong Kong Committee chief says So Wa-wai biopic 'doesn't make us feel comfortable'

|magazine=South China Morning Post

|url=https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3146008/tokyo-paralympics-hong-kong-committee-chief-says-so-wa-wai-biopic

}}