Edgar Cheung Ka-long (born 10 June 1997 in Hong Kong), whose ancestral home is Yantai in Shandong, is a Hong Kong men's foil fencer known as the Boy Sword God and the Sword God of Hong Kong. He comes from a basketball family, both his father Cheung Chi-lun and mother Chan Suet-ling having played the sport, and grew up on basketball courts before taking up fencing. Standing about 1.93 metres and fencing left-handed, he left school in Form Four to turn professional and joined the Hong Kong senior team in 2014. At the 2014 Asian Cadet and Junior Fencing Championships in Jordan he swept four golds, in the junior individual foil, cadet individual foil, junior team foil and cadet team foil. In 2015 he took bronze in the men's individual foil at the Asian Fencing Championships; in April 2016, at the same championships in Wuxi, he beat Japan's Kenta Chida 15-13 in the final to win gold, becoming the first Hong Kong fencer to take that title, and competed at the Rio Olympics the same year. In 2018 he won bronze in the men's individual foil at the Jakarta Asian Games. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 he beat defending champion Daniele Garozzo of Italy 15-11 in the men's individual foil final to take gold, becoming Hong Kong's first Olympic champion since the handover and its first Olympic fencing and first male Olympic gold medallist. In January 2022 he won a World Cup stage in Paris, beating Italy's Lubelli 15-12 in the final, the first Hong Kong man to win a foil World Cup event, and on 18 April 2022 he became the first Hong Kong male fencer to reach world number one. He then took bronze at the World Championships in Cairo, Hong Kong's first male world-championship medallist. In 2023 he won both the individual and team foil golds at the Chengdu World University Games and the men's individual foil gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games, beating China's Chen Haiwei 15-2 to claim Hong Kong fencing's first Asian Games individual title. At the Paris Olympics in 2024 he beat Italy's Filippo Macchi 15-14 to defend his title, becoming Hong Kong's first athlete to win gold at two consecutive Games, and served as the delegation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. His success drove a boom in local fencing, dubbed the Ka-long effect, and he was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star. Coached by the Frenchman Gregory Koenig, he studies sports and recreation management at Hong Kong Baptist University and has often used the motto 'Don't lose your way' to keep himself grounded.
Cheung Ka-long won Olympic gold at both Tokyo and Paris, becoming Hong Kong's first athlete to take gold at two consecutive Games and making fencing one of the city's most followed sports. The Ka-long effect drove a surge in demand for fencing classes and venues and drew more young people into the sport. He showed that Hong Kong athletes can stay competitive at the very top, following up with further breakthroughs at the Asian Games, World Championships and World Cup.
Achievements
- 2016 · Won gold in the men's individual foil at the Asian Fencing Championships, the first Hong Kong fencer to take the title.
- 2021 · Won gold in the men's individual foil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, becoming Hong Kong's first Olympic champion since the handover.
- 2024 · Beat Italy's Filippo Macchi 15-14 to defend his title at the Paris 2024 Olympics.