Cover Haughey, an advocate for youth mental health, represents Hong Kong at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships (Photo: Getty)
Haughey, an advocate for youth mental health, represents Hong Kong at the Doha 2024 World Aquatics Championships (Photo: Getty)
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In celebration of World Mental Health Day 2026, Tatler looks at the female athletes advocating for sustainable mental health systems for younger generations
Mental health is a pressing issue in Hong Kong, where nearly 46 per cent of adults show mild-to-severe symptoms of depression or anxiety, according to a 2025 estimate by the mental health charity Mind Hong Kong and insurance firm Manulife. Yet the topic of mental health hasn’t always featured in the world of high-performance athletics, which has historically run on a cut-throat, win-at-all-costs culture—many in the industry no doubt feel the same as the American football coach Red Sanders, who told the UCLA Bruins ahead of a 1950 game, “Winning isn’t everything—it’s the only thing.”
Marking World Mental Health Day 2026, Tatler spotlights female Millennials and Gen Z in Hong Kong who are helping to systematically break down the stigma around mental health in sport, positioning emotional regulation and mental health as prerequisites for sustainable human performance—not just winning. Through writing, leading registered charities, advising international governing bodies, and conducting their own research, these female athletes are helping to carry the torch of greater mental resilience for all.
Read more: 8 Simple Mental Health Tips for Busy Women
Yvette Kong
Former Olympic swimmer Yvette Man-Yi Kong represented Hong Kong at the 2016 Rio Olympics after competing for the University of California, Berkeley. Following her retirement from competitive swimming, she served as a founding board member of Mind Hong Kong, the CEO of Hong Kong-registered charity Melo, and the founder of Arelyx, an educational enterprise that develops social-emotional learning curricula for children.
Recognised as a Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow (Hong Kong) honouree in 2025, Kong authored a book, An Unmeasured Human, on mental health, resilience, and staying human—which officially launches today, on World Mental Health Day 2026.
Read more: She was an Olympian—now Yvette Kong drives social change through education and arts
Siobhán Haughey
Four-time Olympic medallist Siobhán Haughey is a prominent advocate for youth mental health and stress management. Haughey graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology, then won two silver medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and two bronze medals at Paris 2024.
Recognised as a Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow (Hong Kong) honouree in 2018, and a Tatler Most Influential honouree since 2021, Haughey has also collaborated with youth empowerment platforms to encourage reading as a way to relax, particularly for Gen Z and Gen Alpha students facing academic pressure. She has publicly outlined plans to enter clinical practice in child psychology after retiring from international swimming.
Camille Cheng
Three-time Olympic swimmer Camille Cheng has transformed her experience in elite athletics into mental health advocacy. Born in 1993, the Hong Kong team member holds a degree in psychology from Brown University, where she also competed as a swimmer at the NCAA Division I level. In 2021, Cheng co-founded Mind the Waves, a Hong Kong-based charitable organisation, alongside swimmers Stephanie Au and Jamie Yeung, to destigmatise mental health support among young people. Cheng’s advocacy work extends internationally; in October 2025, the International Olympic Committee appointed her as one of 12 global IOC Mental Health Ambassadors, representing Asia to advise on athlete welfare policies.
Sofie Fella
International rugby player and Harvard University graduate Sofie Fella played collegiate rugby before joining the Hong Kong Football Club and earning international caps for Germany. In 2026, Fella launched the Da Collection, an initiative reclaiming traditional cultural language around female size to challenge harmful physical aesthetics in Asian sports culture. A speaker at TEDxTinHau Women in October 2026, Fella explained to Tatler about overcoming aesthetic expectations in favour of functional strength and psychological self-acceptance among young female athletes.
Read more: ‘Strength feels amazing’: How rugby player Sofie Fella is tackling sport marketing and shame, and encouraging women to take up more space
Stephanie Ng-Cusi
Author, researcher, and winner at the Tatler Front & Female Awards Hong Kong and a Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow (Hong Kong) honouree, Stephanie Ng focuses on eating disorder prevention and body image advocacy across East Asia. Trained in clinical psychology, Ng, a former recreational weightlifter, completed her doctoral research on cultural nuances surrounding disordered eating. In 2017, Ng founded Body Banter, a registered Hong Kong charity that equips young people with tools to discuss mental health and body perception through community workshops and peer-led advocacy programmes. Her organisation collaborates with secondary schools and universities across Hong Kong to dismantle body image issues and social stigmas around seeking psychological help.
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Cat Wang is an editor at Tatler Asia based in Hong Kong, where she covers business, wealth, innovation, and impact. Previously, she was a Forbes Asia reporter and assistant editor of the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, spotlighting startups and small companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific. She began her career as a trainee reporter at the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s newspaper of record. Born in New York City, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.A. in political science.
