CHAIRWOMAN OF THE BOARD

Board sailing. So what? You win in Olympic board sailing, you don’t exactly go home to ticker-tape parades.

You go home and say, “Board sailing,” somebody will say back, “Me too.”

Unless you board sail for Hong Kong.

Lee Lai Shan, 25, took a gold medal--Hong Kong’s first ever--and is going home to a reception not normally accorded anyone from Olympic yachting.

For starters, the government has given her a lifetime pass to the Hong Kong subway system. From now on, Lee rides free.

Furthermore, in time for China’s takeover of political control of the British colony scheduled for July 1, 1997, a statue of Lee has been proposed for the bridge connecting Hong Kong to China.