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Lars Hamer

Hong Kong swimmer Camille Cheng Lily-mei’s work outside the pool was recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) earlier this month, when she was named one of the body’s first mental health ambassadors.
Cheng, who has represented Hong Kong at three Olympic Games, travelled to Lausanne, Switzerland, for the IOC Consensus Meeting on Mental Health for Elite Athletes in early June after being invited to serve as the female representative for Asia.
The IOC’s mental health ambassador scheme is a new initiative aimed at putting athletes’ voices and lived experiences at the centre of efforts to address mental health challenges and disorders in elite sport.
Cheng is the co-founder of Hong Kong-based mental health charity Mind the Waves.
“There’ll be 12 representatives: a female representative and a male representative from the Americas, Asia, Oceania, Europe, Africa, and then two more,” Cheng said.












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“It is up to the ambassador to be very proactive in how we bring what the IOC is doing in this space to our own region.
“We want to use our platforms to advocate for mental health and bring a lot of what the IOC is working on and make it more culturally adaptable for our own regions.
“My hope is to take this experience, the resources that will be available, the research and bring it to Hong Kong and have conversations with the people here that can help.”
During her four days in Lausanne, Cheng attended presentations by more than 30 experts discussing the latest developments and research undertaken on the mental health of elite athletes, which covered topics such as eating disorders, depression, anxiety, substance abuse and more.
“While I was there, there was a separate event, the International Athletes’ Forum with about 300 to 400 athlete representatives from around the world,” she said.
“During this forum, there were five breakout sessions and I, alongside the head of the mental health unit and a clinical psychologist, co-facilitated a workshop for athletes.”
Cheng, 32, said she led the session twice in two days with around 150 athletes, addressing fundamental issues such as the difference between mental health and mental illness, what to do if someone shows signs of struggling as well as how to reach out.
“I feel very privileged to have been in that room, partly because it’s a topic that I’m super passionate and interested in myself, and then also having the honour to be one of the athlete representatives as well,” she said.
A freestyle specialist, Cheng has six Asian Games bronze medals and one silver but has not competed in more than four months since undergoing ACL surgery.
She also holds a master’s degree in industrial-organisational psychology and has expressed an interest in going into the field of sports psychology in the future.


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Co-founder of Hong Kong-based mental health charity Mind the Waves named IOC mental health ambassador


Co-founder of Hong Kong-based mental health charity Mind the Waves named IOC mental health ambassador.


Mental health

Olympic swimmer Camille Cheng to bring IOC mental health mission back to Hong Kong

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Co-founder of Hong Kong-based mental health charity Mind the Waves named IOC mental health ambassador

Co-founder of Hong Kong-based mental health charity Mind the Waves named IOC mental health ambassador