Tokyo Olympics: Siobhan Haughey doubles up as soaring 100m freestyle swim seals silver

The 23-year-old puts in another magnificent swim to finish second in the 100m freestyle on Friday morning
It comes just two days after collecting silver in the 200m freestyle, Hong Kong’s first Olympic medal in the pool

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Paul Rydingin Tokyo

Published: 10:04am, 30 Jul 2021

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Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey continued her magnificent form at Tokyo 2020 when she sealed a second Olympic medal for the city as she finished second in the 100m freestyle final at Tokyo’s Aquatics Centre on Friday morning.

The 23-year-old was attempting to secure a second swimming medal for Hong Kong during the city’s most successful Games campaign.

Haughey swam a sensational 52.27 seconds to touch the wall second – setting another new Asian record – just 0.31 of a second behind Australia’s Emma McKeon, who set a new Olympic record. Fellow Aussie Cate Campbell was third in 52.52.

The Hong Kong star powered to 200m freestyle silver on Tuesday morning, before later smashing the Asian record in her opening heat in the 100m free. She improved on that time again during the semi-finals as she clocked a blistering time of 52.40 seconds.

Friday’s final was an exhibition of the world’s top sprinters. A field replete with some of the best the sport has ever produced included Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, the world record holder, Australian duo Campbell and McKeon, who earlier in the Games scooped 4 x 100m relay gold, and defending Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak of Canada, who finished just outside the medals fourth.

Haughey has rubber-stamped her credentials as one of the finest swimmers in the world at these Games, but claimed it was all a surprise to her. After sealing silver in the 200m free, the University of Michigan alumni said it “felt like a dream” to have won a medal.

Siobhan Haughey’s coach raises hopes for 100m final – ‘She is doing great things’

Immediately following her silver medal run in the 100m free, Haughey said she had never dreamed of double medal success.

“Absolutely not. The 200 free has always been my main focus and after getting the silver from that event, I think it took … not that I had a lot of pressure going into the 200 free, but it definitely took some pressure off heading into the 100,” Haughey said.

“I was trying to have fun and have a good time and swim my best time, and getting the silver was like, ‘Oh! Yay!’”

Haughey’s heroics have ensured she goes into the record books as Hong Kong’s greatest ever Olympian, a suggestion she wasn’t totally at ease with.

“I wouldn’t say I’m the greatest, but it’s definitely crazy to think that … I don’t even know what to say,” she said. “I’m just here trying to have a good time and the fact that having a good time also means having great results is too much fun.”

Her double silver in Tokyo will net her a reported HK$5 million (US$643,000) as part of a commendation scheme for elite athletes, set up by the Henderson Land Group, which agreed to reward high-performing athletes at the 2020 Olympics.

Haughey has a chance to become a triple-medallist at these Games when she compete in the 50m freestyle event, the heats for which begin later on Friday.