This article, originally published in Chinese in February 2019, has been translated and adapted for English readers following Vivian Kong's remarkable gold medal triumph at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If you are interested in reading the original Chinese version, check out the link here.

Before the interview, I had only seen Vivian's graceful fencing posture in newspapers. The news photos hadn't captured her sweet side. Finally meeting the world champion, I saw that she has an angelic face, wearing a smile as red as an apple, like a shy high school student. It's hard to believe she's 25 years old and has a chance to become the world's top épée fencer. She has a tall figure, skin like cream, and exudes an athletic aura.

For a professional fencer, every action is crucial to winning or losing. She says that when she wins, she thinks she will cry tears of joy, but she doesn't; when she loses, she doesn't waste time crying, only asking herself how to turn defeat into victory. However, during the interview, when talking about her recent cruciate ligament rupture, she became emotional. She cried in front of the camera: "I'm so afraid I won't be able to fence anymore because I love this sport so much and don't want to disappoint my coach."

So, she vowed to overcome her injury and return to the battlefield. Her life goal is the sword. Her sincere love for fencing, whether holding an épée or not, with the sword in her eyes and heart and her childlike innocence are the keys to her success.

English Text: Jeremy Chapnick

Chinese Text: Casey To

Photo: Raymond Chan

Wardrobe: Marysia

J: Jessica Ng, founder of Jessica; V: Vivian Kong, Hong Kong fencer

The year 2019 had just begun, and Vivian Kong had already won two world championships, becoming the first Hong Kong fencer to win a Fencing World Cup title. This achievement rapidly propelled her world ranking in épée to second place. In March, she will compete in Hungary, and the entire fencing world eagerly anticipates her potential ascent to the world's number one ranking.

J: Congratulations on winning two world championships this year. Can you share your feelings about these wins with our readers?

V: I'm really happy! It's the first time I've felt so many people are paying attention to my fencing. There are too many people to thank; they are all the motivation for my improvement. I want to continue achieving good results and bring greatness to Hong Kong. After winning my first championship in Cuba, I competed in Doha two weeks later. I performed poorly there and was eliminated in the first round. When I won the first championship, I wasn't as happy as I had imagined, but I was really upset when I lost in Cuba [This should be "Doha" for consistency]. Every day, I questioned why I lost and why my performance was so inconsistent. After that, I immediately started practicing non-stop every day. Before I arrived in Barcelona, I had been practicing poorly. I even told my coach I no longer knew how to fence! But when the competition started, I performed better and better.

I'm excited and feel I still have much room for improvement. I want to understand fencing better, perform better, meet my coach's expectations, and hope to perform at my usual level in Hungary.

J: Do you want to be world number one?

V: Yes, I do! But I don't think I'm number one yet. I think many athletes are at the championship level, and I still have a long way to go to reach them. When I won my second World Cup championship in Barcelona, it felt a bit unreal. I felt I hadn't reached that level yet, so I'll work harder to improve my technique, physical fitness, and maturity. Rankings change frequently, and the most important thing is to keep improving, but reaching number one would make me very happy!

J: I heard you once injured your cruciate ligament. Have you fully recovered now?

V: Yes, I've recovered. This injury was a turning point in my fencing career.

At that time, I had just won second place in the Asian Championships, achieving my highest ranking ever, reaching world number five. But during the World Championships, my cruciate ligament snapped in front of my coach, and he immediately started crying (at this point, Vivian begins to choke up)... I hadn't cried for a long time, and I really felt sorry for him. I thought I would cry after winning those two championships, but I didn't. I was very scared, afraid that I might not be able to fence again because I love this sport so much! After recovery, I've never trained so diligently or wanted to do better so badly.

Because of fencing, I've met many seniors, some of whom have already retired. I know they all worked extremely hard; even when injured, they never slacked off during practice. Their stories are all very inspiring. I know I'm still far from their level, so I worked even harder after my injury. I set goals for myself and push myself harder. For example, if my coach asks me to do ten repetitions in three sets, I'll do a few more in each set.

We arranged a video recording during the interview. When Vivian spoke about her injury, she became emotional and started crying, almost stopping the interview. The young girl kept saying, "I'm sorry." We watched the world champion cry, momentarily at a loss for how to react.

J: Vivian, you're really amazing! It's because of your perseverance that you've achieved such results today! Why don't we talk about something lighter? Tell us about how you started fencing.

V: My mom always wanted me to dance because she loves dancing, so she took me to learn ballet. But my interests were different from her dreams. At that time, I didn't like dancing; I liked taekwondo because I liked "fighting"! Haha! Fencing is like the ballet of combat sports; ballet was inspired by fencing. My dad took me to a fencing club for an interest class. My first coach was already an outstanding athlete, Chen Weijin, a former key member of the Chinese national fencing team. The coach laid out three swords before me: foil, épée, and saber. He asked me to choose one. I felt the épée handle was the most comfortable, so I chose épée. To this day, I still feel épée suits me best.

J: Besides fencing, what other interests do you have?

V: I'm starting to want to learn ballet now. I finally learned to appreciate it, finding ballet beautiful and helpful for coordinating fencing movements. I love reading; I'm a bit nerdy. Being an only child, I didn't have other kids to play with at home, so I've always felt that going to school was a way to make friends, which is why I love studying. I also really enjoy doing yoga, especially after the injury. I realized the importance of better physical fitness to protect myself. I didn't like running before, but now I'm starting to enjoy the feeling. I love eating; I'm a vegetarian. When I travel for competitions, I like to try different vegetarian restaurants.

J: Being an athlete can be stressful. Do you read psychology books to help yourself calm down?

V: Yes! I bring a book with me to each competition. When I was in high school studying for the IB, I took psychology classes and became very interested in it. I think it's helpful for fencing too. Recently, I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's books about sports psychology and mindfulness. I also enjoy reading biographies. Before going to Cuba, I finished Michelle Obama's book, which I found very inspiring. I've also recently read Maria Sharapova's. I like reading books on Buddhism, and my favorite author is Master Hsing Yun, who I find very wise. Although my Chinese isn't very good, I really like the language and find it beautiful.

J: Why did you choose to study International Relations at Stanford University?

V: Because of fencing, I had the opportunity to travel a lot and meet friends from many countries. This sparked my interest in International Relations. I really wanted to understand each country's unique aspects, and I often had the chance to interact with foreign friends and learn about their perspectives. It was a way to develop my interests alongside fencing.

J: You really love reading! I heard you're interested in law as well?

V: When I was injured and unsure about my recovery time, I started studying Chinese law at Renmin University. During my International Relations studies, I focused on East Asia, and since I didn't study much Chinese history in high school, I wanted to learn more about China while in China. The classes were taught in Mandarin in Hong Kong. I'm very interested in law. I've also looked you up online and learned that you studied law. I'd love to ask for your advice some time, if possible.

J: Whether you want to become a lawyer or not, studying law can be fundamental to many areas and will definitely be helpful to you!

V: I agree with you. If fencing were not my priority, I would consider continuing to study law. In the future, I hope to have the opportunity to work at the United Nations or perhaps work in areas related to promoting environmental protection, sports, charity, and education.