Exclusive | Tokyo Olympics: Siobhan Haughey battled injury but stopped because she couldn’t climb the stairs, says coach
- Hong Kong’s double Olympic silver medallist had to withdraw from 50m free semi-finals, but was determined to race in relay for teammates
- Rick Bishop says 23-year-old Haughey had wanted to continue – ‘she’s so tough, so stoic’
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Siobhan Haughey’s coach only discovered that the double Olympic silver medallist was injured when she told him, “I don’t think I can walk up the stairs”.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Rick Bishop said the swimmer only revealed she was hurt after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 50m freestyle event last Friday.
By that time Hong Kong’s new Olympic star had already set four Asian records and grabbed two medals in the 200m and 100m free.
“She’s so tough and so stoic,” said Bishop, who is the swimming head coach at Louisiana State University.
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“She’s not going to let you know she is hurt. I asked her if she wanted to go upstairs and watch one of the events and she said, ‘I don’t think I can walk up the stairs’. And I was like ‘what do you mean?’ and that’s when it came out about her hip being really sore and really painful.”
