Haughey won partly thanks to her 200-metres freestyle gold at the world championships in February, the first time a Hong Kong swimmer has ever won a world title.
“It’s such an honour to win, especially the star of the stars because we have so many amazing athletes in Hong Kong,” Haughey said. “I think some of the highlights from the past 12 months would be the Asian Games, winning the gold medals and also breaking the Asian record in the 100m free.”
Cheung won gold at the FISU World University Games and the Asian Games last year, while also grabbing bronze medals in team foil competitions in Hangzhou and at the World Championships and the Asian Championships.
“The best moment [of 2023] for me was winning the team bronze in the world championships,” Cheung said.
“In the beginning, we just aimed for the Olympic qualification, but we failed … but after that world championship medal, everything changed and it gave us hope that we can do it.”
Asian Games gold medallist golfer Taichi Kho, tennis ace Coleman Wong Chak-lam, table tennis player Wong Chun-ting and para-badminton player Chu Man-kai were also named sports stars in the men’s award.
For the women, snooker’s Ng On-yee, fencer Vivian Kong Man-wai, karate world No 1 Grace Lau Mo-sheung and table tennis player Doo Hoi-kem were also honoured.
Kong’s prize marks the fifth year in a row she has featured in the best women’s award, having won it outright in 2019.
Hong Kong’s men’s football team, who made a historic first appearance at the Asian Cup since 1968 in January, won the award for team-only sport for the third time, the first time since 2015.
In the awards for sports combination, badminton mixed doubles duo Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet were the winners, their fourth in as many years.
The men’s foil team, consisting of Cheung, Ryan Choi Chun-yin, Leung Chin-yu, and Yeung Chi-ka, featured for the first time since 2019, their second overall.
Asian Games gold medallist rowers Lam San-tung and Wong Wai-chun were honoured for the first time, one week after Wong announced his retirement from the sport.
As was the case last year, Haughey and Cheung each received a cash award of HK$80,000, while the remaining eight sports stars got HK$60,000 each.
The event was attended by the city’s top brass, including Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, secretary for Culture Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and president of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee (SF&OC) Timothy Fok Tsun-ting.
“Whether they win or not, the effort and performance of the athletes are enough to make us proud,” Fok said. “They have put in countless hours of sweat and toil, and used persistence and perseverance to surpass their own limits.
“The achievements of athletes are not only personal glory, but also the pride of Hong Kong. We look forward to witnessing more Hong Kong athletes on the big stage of the Paris Olympics, competing with the world’s best players and achieving great results.”
