In the third instalment of a four-part Health Matters series on traditional Chinese medicine, Aidyn Fitzpatrick speaks to a Hong Kong fencer studying TCM and local practitioners to see how athletes, both elite and amateur, are using TCM alongside Western medicine for smarter injury recovery.
Fresh off helping Hong Kong clinch a bronze medal in the women’s foil team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, fencer Janelle Leung Ya-lei – ranked 53rd in the world – knows the fine margin between peak performance and high-stakes injury.
In April 2026, she sustained a partial tear to her ankle ligament, just seven days before the Cairo Foil World Cup.
Away from Hong Kong and with limited access to her regular medical team, Leung looked to her Chinese medicine knowledge from her ongoing studies at Baptist University, where she was admitted to the Bachelor of Chinese Medicine and Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science programme in 2023.