Paris Olympics: Siobhan Haughey hails ‘legend’ Stephanie Au for her fifth and final Games
- Au will miss having ‘the name of Hong Kong on my back’, while Haughey rules out emulating her longevity, saying ‘only she can do it’
Stephanie Au Hoi-shun was hailed as a legend, a pillar and a very good friend by her peers after what may have been her last major meet for Hong Kong at the Paris Games on Saturday.
The five-time Olympian has indicated previously she may not be swimming competitively by the Los Angeles Games in four years’ time, but her legacy is already assured in the eyes of her teammates.
“I think she’s a legend,” quadruple Olympic medallist Siobhan Haughey said after she, Au, Natalie Kan Cheuk-tung and Tam Hoi-lam went out in the 4x100 medley relay heats. Their time of four minutes, 3.56 seconds in finishing seventh was 1.84 seconds short of the city record, set at the Asian Games last September.
“Swimming was a very boring sport, you just swam up and down and you couldn’t even talk with someone else while in the water,” Haughey said of Au’s persistence.
“I am sure there were a lot of ups and downs in her career, but she kept working hard no matter what she had come through, and here she is at her last Olympics – I don’t know if anyone could surpass her.”
