Hong Kong had never been able to win any medals for as long as it had participated in the Olympic games since 1952 until Lee Lai-Shan's victory at Atlanta 1996. Notably, the 1996 Summer Olympics was the last international sporting event that Hong Kong participated in as a British Dependent Territory, making Lee's medal the first and last medal that the Hong Kong team (not Hong Kong, China) won. It was at that time Lee famously declared to the media: "Hong Kong athletes are not rubbish!"