CHIBA • Thailand's Panipak Wongpattanakit was so disheartened after winning just the bronze medal in Rio five years ago that she decided to quit taekwondo.
However, after turning her back on the sport for two months, she realised that she did not want to give it up so easily. The 23-year-old's perseverance paid off yesterday after she beat Spanish teenager Adriana Cerezo Iglesias to finally win Olympic gold for women's taekwondo in the 49kg category.
Serbia's Tijana Bogdanovic and Israel's Abishag Semberg won the two bronze medals.
"I'd like to give this victory to all the Thai fans," said Panipak, who is nicknamed "Tennis".
"All the hard work finally paid off. I've been through a lot of difficulties. My long-time desire was finally answered."
In an interview with the Bangkok Post before her match, Panipak shared her thoughts between those difficult times and now. She said: "I had a really good chance in Rio but, in a fraction of a second, I blew it. I was so disappointed and I told my coach I did not want to keep going. But after two months, I really missed taekwondo and resumed training.
"People think that I have a high chance of winning gold but I don't feel under pressure from their expectations. I'm handling all the pressure comfortably. I try to enjoy the game in every match and don't underestimate opponents."
A martial arts star in Thailand, Panipak had previously won gold medals at the 2015 and 2019 World Championships, 2017 SEA Games and 2018 Asian Games.
With her Olympic gold, the reigning world champion in her category also earned her nation's first gold medal in the sport.
Thailand had previously won gold in only weightlifting and boxing at the Olympics while they had also won several silver and bronze medals in taekwondo.
In her final yesterday, Panipak trailed Cerezo Iglesias 9-10 with nine seconds to go but her last two shots gave her two points, which resulted in her 11-10 victory.
Netizens reportedly called what happened in those nine seconds a "miracle", while #NongTennis also quickly became the top tweet topic in Thailand.
The Pattaya News reported that Panipak will also return home 12 million baht (S$496,200) richer as a result of her victory, according to the country's National Sports Development Fund policy.
"I have a lot of mixed feelings right now," said Cerezo Iglesias.
"I was really in the game at my first Olympics. But the gold is what I came for and what hurts is the way I lost it. I gave her a chance to win and she's really good, she took it. She deserves it."
REUTERS
