The 2026 Hong Kong 100 trail race will kick off next Thursday, and the main event — the 100-km category — will start at 7:00 a.m. on January 24 from Pak Tam Chung. Which elite athletes will line up at the start?

Today the elite roster for the HK100 100-km category was announced.

Last year's defending champion Meng Guangfu (ITRA 930) is the top seed, and last year's runner-up Qin Guidu (ITRA 912) returns as well. This year four athletes have ITRA performance scores above 900; the other two are Luo Tao and Yang Jianjian.

Seven athletes have ITRA performance scores between 880 and 900, including Deng Guomin, who is about to run his tenth HK100.

This year's Hong Kong 100 course has changed: the total distance is 92.9 km, with 5,073 m of cumulative ascent and 4,617 m of cumulative descent. Faster finishing times are expected this year.

Last year's women's runner-up Veronika Leng and third-place finisher Hua Jie are both returning, while another athlete who hit strong form in the second half of last year and who was fifth at last year's Hong Kong 100, Chi Lingjie, is also on the entry list.