Hong Kong’s most decorated Olympian, Siobhan Haughey, has said that representing the city in Paris meant more to her than winning awards, but whether she will join the next Games remains uncertain.
The swimming star was welcomed home by enthusiastic fans at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday morning after an 11-hour flight, with the 26-year-old telling the press she wanted to “do nothing but sleep in the coming days”.
“I didn’t sleep well for the past two weeks at the Olympic Village because of the continuous days of competition. It’s hard to sleep well due to the nerves and the adrenaline,” she explained.
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Haughey clinched bronze in the 100m freestyle final on Thursday after touching the wall in 52.33 seconds.
She also secured another bronze in the 200m freestyle two days earlier, making history as the only Hong Kong swimmer to win medals in 100m and 200m events at two Olympic Games.
She now boasts four medals from two Olympics as she won silver in both the 100m and 200m freestyle in Tokyo three years ago.
Haughey was joined by her medley relay teammates, Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung and Tam Hoi-lam, as well as swimmers Camille Cheng Lily-mei, Cindy Cheung Sum-yuet and Ian Ho Yentou.
Most of the Hong Kong athletes finished their competitions at the Paris Games and made their way back to the city, including gold medallist épéeist Vivian Kong Man-wai and two-time gold medallist fencer Cheung Ka-long.
Kong, Cheung and Haughey won two gold and two bronze in total at the Paris Games, ranking Hong Kong 21st on the medals table.
The two gold medallists were the subject of praise from Zheng Yanxiong, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, who said Cheung and Kong were writing an illustrious chapter in the city’s legend.
“They have fought for the honour of Hong Kong and the nation while fully exhibiting the resilient spirit of Hong Kong youths in this new era and a lively display of the Lion Rock can-do spirit,” he said.
Haughey said she had trained with persistence over the past three years without taking any long breaks at all, adding that she planned to take a couple of weeks off now before joining another three World Cup rounds in October.
Fencing champion Cheung earlier defined the “Hong Kong spirit” as “keep going, keep fighting”.
He said such characteristics had been instilled in him throughout his preparation.
The 27-year-old made history at the Games by becoming the first man in 68 years to defend his Olympic foil title.
Women’s épée champion Kong said it was the “Hong Kong spirit” which helped her come back from a six-point deficit to win the city’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
“I didn’t want to lose so badly,” Kong said when asked how she managed to turn the match around. “I didn’t want to give up without showing the Hong Kong spirit.”
Kong announced she would be taking a break from the sport after fencing for nearly two decades and would work towards setting up a charity to promote sporting in children.
In response to remarks from the chairman of Hong Kong’s swimming association, Ronnie Wong Man-chiu, that Haughey’s bronze wins were “a bit regretful”, the athlete said she focused on the process rather than the results.
“It is a huge honour [to represent Hong Kong]. But my goal of going to the Olympics is not to be the most decorated athlete, but to do my best in the competition,” she said.
“As long as I have done my best preparing over the past three years and performed my best in the competition, I do not think it is regretful,” she said.
Haughey said she was aware of the high expectations others placed on her at the Games, but they did not reflect her own goals.
“My coach and I know what my goals are and I am happy I did what I set out to achieve.”
When asked about her plans for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Haughey said she was unsure if she would be able to take part and revealed that her mindset towards playing the Games had changed.
“I used to be very nervous about competitions and achieving results, but during the Paris Olympics, I only wanted to enjoy the process and embrace the whole moment, just in case this Olympics is my last one,” she said.
Haughey said she wanted some downtime to reset before the World Cup.
While she ruled out coaching after retirement, Haughey said she might consider pursuing a career in psychology.
“I don’t think I have the qualities of a swim coach. Other than having great knowledge of swimming, you need to be patient. My coach is great and I feel I can never measure up to him,” she said, referring to Tom Rushton, who started coaching her in 2021.
“I have other passions, like being a psychologist, but I hope Hong Kong athletes can carry on our legacy and achieve great results for Hong Kong.”
Additional reporting by Tom Shuai, Alice Kong and James Modesto
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong gold medallist Vivian Kong gets heroine’s welcome upon arrival from Paris Olympics
- Olympic hero Cheung Ka-long defines ‘Hong Kong spirit’ as ‘keep going, keep fighting’
- As Hong Kong’s Vivian Kong hangs up her sword, experts say fresh fencing stars can emerge
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