Local Olympians chime in about their pay

Some of the SAR’s Olympians have mixed views over the remuneration local athletes receive, with some saying a better package would certainly help, while others said Hongkongers already receive good support.

Entry level full-time athletes can get around HK$7,000 a month in sponsorship from the Sports Institute.

Echoing a recent call from badminton star Lee Cheuk-yiu, fencer Cedric Ho said more support would certainly help, noting that plenty of athletes have to do part-time jobs to make ends meet.

“As someone who had been there myself, back in the day I would need to save money sometimes,” he said on Commercial Radio.

“What I did was I was extremely thrifty, I don’t go out for a meal and force myself to eat whatever at the institute.”

However, sailor Nicholas Halliday said Hong Kong athletes already do quite well compared to some overseas counterparts, calling the pay packages “reasonable”.

Speaking at the airport, after competing at the Paris Olympics, another sailor, Russell Aylsworth, agreed, saying they “owe it all” to the institute.

“I would say the Hong Kong Sports Institute has given Nic and I and my sailing partner Akira Sakai tremendous support, they’ve been very, very helpful. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to call myself an Olympian for sure,” he said.

“I just want to thank everyone in Hong Kong for supporting and watching the both of us sail, I just want to inspire the youth, and for all the other sailors coming up, just to continue to train hard and push hard.”

Both Halliday and Ho said they plan to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

But for now, Halliday said he’s looking forward to having some down time and enjoying some Hong Kong food favourites like cheung fun.