Of the thousands of international schools across Asia, only a handful can say they have sent two athletes to the Olympic Games in the same decade. Hong Kong International School (HKIS) is one of them, and that is no coincidence.
Sidney Chu is a class of 2017 graduate who spent his entire school career at HKIS from Reception 1 through Grade 12. By middle school, he had already found his calling at a speed skating rink inside Festival Walk in Kowloon, where two-time Olympian Han Yueshuang spotted his potential and pushed him to aim for the highest pinnacle of sports.
What followed were years of training six to eight hours a day, often travelling to Mainland China just to find a full-size rink, all while keeping up with his studies back in Tai Tam.
Today, Chu is the executive director of the Hong Kong Speed Skating Academy and has represented Hong Kong internationally. Source: Hong Kong International School
In 2022, that grind paid off. Chu carried the Hong Kong flag at the Beijing Winter Olympics as a short-track speed skater.
As impressive as this was, he was not the first athletic wunderkind to emerge from the school. Jamie Yeung, Class of 2015, swam her way from the HKIS pool to the University of Michigan as a Division I athlete, and eventually to the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, where she represented Hong Kong in the Women’s 4x100m medley relay.
Jamie Yeung joined Hong Kong International School as a freshman to immerse herself in the Stingrays Swim Club. Source: Hong Kong International School
Two HKIS Dragons, two Olympic stages. How did this school nurture not one, but two athletes to compete at the highest level while also thriving in the classroom?
Part of the answer lies in how HKIS defines education. The school has always believed that sport and academics are not competing priorities but complementary ones. “You don’t have to choose between a passion and a career,” says Chu, now at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. “It is possible to be an Olympian and a doctor.”
That philosophy is now further backed by serious investment. In late 2025, HKIS opened the Dragon Centre for Activities and Athletics (DCAA), a HK$1 billion facility (US$127.8 million) spanning 22,700 square metres (equivalent to approximately 3.2 standard professional soccer pitches) across nine floors right next to the Tai Tam campus.
The Dragon Center for Activities & Athletics (DCAA) opened in November 2025. Source: Hong Kong International School
Designed to sit at the heart of student life, it houses physical education classes, athletics training, after-school activities, and local and regional sports competitions. The facility features two gymnasiums, a 25-metre swimming pool, four rooftop tennis courts, a fitness centre, a golf simulator, and speciality studios for dance, martial arts, spinning, and rock climbing. It is the kind of infrastructure that sends student-athletes two key messages: their school sees their ambitions and wants to give them a home to strive together.
That sentiment is already resonating with the students walking through its doors today. Joseph Cao, a Grade 8 student and the youngest junior player ever from Hong Kong and China to participate in the 2025 Asia Pacific Amateur Golf Championship in Dubai, knows exactly what that whole-school support feels like firsthand.
“When the DCA opened, it was obviously a big deal,” he says. “It shows how much HKIS values sports and its students. As a student-athlete, I feel lucky to be part of a school that supports both academics and sports.”
Joseph Cao joined HKIS in 2018-2019 and now has many friends and supportive teachers, with golf playing a big role in his journey. Source: Hong Kong International School
Cao first joined HKIS as a Grade 1 student in 2018. But his path to golf was anything but straightforward. He only picked up a club in Grade 3 during the pandemic, mostly because his parents wanted him off the couch and away from video games. His first tournament in June 2020 did not go well, but it gave him the drive to improve. He is now ranked among the top 600 amateurs globally and considers golf a genuine career path.
Life as an elite athlete has many ups and downs. But Cao knows his school is with him every step of the way. HKIS selected him alongside three other student-athletes to help promote the new Dragon Centre, something Cao sees as a real signal. “I believe this shows that HKIS really cares about my golf career, as they selected me to be part of this panel,” he says.
But what makes the environment truly work is the people around him. During competition week, one of his teachers sent him an email with a class photo, cheering him on. “It was a small gesture, but it had a big impact on me,” he says.
That sense of belonging runs even deeper as HKIS approaches its 60th anniversary. For Cao, the milestone means something personal. “Being part of HKIS during its 60th anniversary makes me feel like I am part of a bigger story,” he says. “Many students before us have helped build this amazing community, and it inspires me to work hard. It is exciting to think that our journey today will become part of the school’s history for future students. Maybe one day I can be a professional golfer and inspire future HKIS students.”
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