The star swimmer has originally been earmarked by the Hong Kong Swimming Association for the 100 meters and 200m freestyle events, as one of the city’s 10 athletes heading to Hungary.

Making the shocking announcement on her social media account on Monday, Haughey said it wasn’t easy for her to get through quarantine and lockdowns at the beginning of the year, as well as suffering an ankle injury during such a challenging year.

She noted it has been hard for her trying to get through all the training and rehab to get to where she wanted to be in a short amount of time.

“I’m sad to share that I will not be racing at the world championships this week. At such a high caliber meet, I want to make sure I’m delivering high level performances. Unfortunately, I’m not there yet,” Haughey wrote.

However, the swimmer said her injury has improved a lot thanks to the tremendous help from all of her physios and doctors.

“After consulting my team of medical experts and coaches we decided it’s best for me to pull out from the meet. Being an elite athlete also means knowing how to take care of yourself. I would loooove to race this week because of how hard I’ve been training, but it’s also important for me to take a step back and keep my long term goals in mind,” she added.

The 24-year-old has been sidelined since mid-May after slipping on the poolside in Dubai and sustaining an injury to her right ankle. She also missed out on the Mare Nostrum meets in Monaco in the same month due to the injury.