Hong Kong won’t produce Olympic talent like Siobhan Haughey unless it builds world-class sport facilities, coach warns
- Sport officials in dark over government spending and venue plans as the city looks to push on from a successful Asian Games
- Haughey’s ex-coach warns of lack of facilities and international exposure for coaches, as Olympic committee tells government to ‘speed up’
Siobhan Haughey’s former swimming coach has warned Hong Kong could struggle to guide her successors to glory, and sporting associations have joined local Olympic officials in urging progress from the government on the new facilities it promised.
The Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong called on the government to “speed up” its efforts, while Michael Fasching, who coached the best athlete the city has ever produced in her formative years, said coaches of the young Hongkongers who might follow in her slipstream “lack sufficient access to facilities and opportunities for international exposure”.
Two months after the annual Policy Address by the city’s leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced increased investment in athletes and specified facilities for swimming and fencing, sporting bodies remain in the dark about what new funds have been allocated and details of venues being built.
Government departments and agencies have declined or refused repeatedly to answer questions about the sums of public money involved, with the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) repeating updates about facilities promised previously.
The October 2022 Policy Address had announced a 10-year blueprint for facilities, involving about 30 venues such as sports centres, swimming pools and parks.
