Competing since Athens 2004, Yee is one of Para fencing’s most decorated athletes with 10 Paralympic, 18 World Championships and countless World Cup and Asian medals. 

But heading into her latest Paralympic Games in Paris, something was different. 

“In the old times, we may not notice how mental health can affect an athlete’s career or even their entire life. We may only focus on physical training or technical training. But how to deal with pressure or how to maintain a good psychological condition between training and competition is a very new horizon. 

“We may think that if I can’t succeed it is just because we are not training hard enough, so we will push ourselves harder in order to reach the goal. However, we just ignore how we feel and what we are experiencing during the process. And if we cannot deal with pressure, we may be deemed as ‘ not strong enough’. That’s why we say “the pressure means we can’t breathe at all”.  

“For me I was like super nervous in the preparation for Paris. When the Games were getting close, I couldn’t focus and it seemed like lot of problems were happening in training and I wanted to even “escape” from training.” 

For someone so experienced, Yee’s sixth Paralympics might have been straightforward. But that was not the case and Yee found herself needing to go back to where it all began, and changing her approach. 

“Then I tried meditation to “calm” myself down. It is like finding “the me” when I was 16 years, starting fencing, why I like fencing and what is the enjoyment through our training. And I try to learn how to appreciate myself through this journey, no matter what result is. 

“Prepare what you can control , ignore what you cant control, be water”. This is like the motto for me through my “transformation” in my headspace process,” Yee said. 

By doing this, even in a short space of time, Yee achieved a fourth place in the women’s foil category A, as well as the same position in the women’s team, and most importantly, improve her sense of wellbeing. 

Yee has always been a mature presence on the piste at competitions, mentoring her teammates and representing the sport in the best possible way. Heading into the Iksan 2025 Para Fencing World Championships from 2-8 September, that ethos, combined with new techniques to manage her mental health, Yee is just as excited by her latest World Championships as she was by her first. 

“Well, I started doing wheelchair fencing since 2000, shifting from swimming to fencing, I love it so much as it is a combat sport. People describe fencing as physical chess, which makes me so addicted to it, as I can have so many variations in training and also lots of things can happen during competition, it gives me a lot of excitement.” 

Yee may be one of the world’s greatest Para fencers, but she does not forget the giants who she, and her teammates, stand on the shoulders of. 

“Also, staying on the podium making me so proud representing Hong Kong, and breaking the record to become the most successful wheelchair fencer in Hong Kong is always my dream, and improving myself, excelling and seeing my improvement always gives me the energy to continue the journey.” 

“Hong Kong is having a tradition in wheelchair fencing development since the 1990s,” Yee continued. “We are having a huge and strong team and representing Hong Kong in each Paralympics. We also have some legendary fencers like Fung Yi Ki, Hui Charn Hung, Chan Yui Chong. When I was growing-up and training with them, I learnt so much and understood what I need to prepare to become a professional world class fencer. I think that this training atmosphere, training hard and smart, nurtured us to become professional fencers.” 

“Since we have a very good training environment, good fencers we all train together when I started fencing since 2000, I improve so fast with the help of my former coach Zheng Kang Zhao and also those senior fencers, they are so much helping me as a beginning wholeheartedly. This kind of spirit become the legacy of Team Hong Kong for us to pass it on. So when I become a senior fencer, I want to sustain this to the next generation.  

And I think the team cohesion brings us together to experience the ups and downs.” 

Yu Cui Yee and her teammates will be amongst more than 240 fencers who will compete at the Iksan 2025 Para Fencing World Championships from 2-7 September. Athletes will go for medals and titles in the men’s and women’s epee, foil and sabre category A and B, men’s epee and foil category C, and team titles in all three weapons.