another Olympic hopeful

[Peace & Harmony]

hello everyone, im new to MartialTalk, my name is terez and i was wondering is it possible to become a part of the olympics for Taekwondo? im a white belt currently and im 20 in college and im in love with Taekwondo so far! ive heard of people who have traveled to different countries to do competitions and such, and i would love to do that someday! i really want to represent the country of the USA in the Olympics. any advice for a young hopeful?

 

[Omar B]

Well sorry to be the bearer of downer news but the Olympics are a young person's game, you would have already have had to be a black belt and done well on the tournament circuit to get noticed. Many of the TKD players are in their teens and 20's and non of them are white belts (or any lower than black). You can certainly compete, but by the time you reach black belt you would have been about 25 which is considered old and unless you start racking up lots of tournament wins now you might not get noticed.

It's admirable that you want to try, I say go for it, but keep in mind you are a bit behind in rank and age.

 

[Peace & Harmony]

awww well thanks for you being honest omar, im still gunna try though! i always wanted to travel and do competitons so if i can at least do that, then that will be okay i was also thinking of opening my own tkd school but thats not until later of course lol

 

[terryl965]

Well lets never say never but the odds are certainly against you. Being an Olympic competitor is tough considering we only send two female and two males athlete to the Olympic for TKD. So with eight wieght classes even if you were one of the very best your chances are only 25% at best. Now as far as doing international level competitionis absolutely in your gasp and making a US National team can also be done. Keep your dreams alive and train hard everyday.

 

[Peace & Harmony]

hey thanks! i really would like to do international competitions and also make the US national team but how would i go about doing that? lol and dont worry, i will train hard everyday!

 

[bluekey88]

Well, first off, train hard in your dojang. Get some expereince in some local tournaments.

Join the USAT and/or the AAU. Compete in qualifiers and then their national championships (they have divisions for all ages and ranks).

You won't have to worry about making the national team until you're a blackbelt and have some wins under your belt.

Mostly though, like I said first...train hard.

Peace,
Erik

 

[Peace & Harmony]

thanks again! wow everyone is so nice and helpful here lol so lets say that i make the national team, will that be a job in itself? what i mean is that, will making the national team be like a full time commitment.

 

[Archtkd]

There are a few exceptions. Herb Perez represented the U.S at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when he was 32 and he won a gold medal. I don't know how old he was when he started practicing and the level of competition today is, I think, much higher than it was in 1992.

 

[Peace & Harmony]

that is interesting, and yeah the level of competition is probably alot higher since alot of kids are now starting younger

 

[terryl965]

Well, first off, train hard in your dojang. Get some expereince in some local tournaments.

Join the USAT and/or the AAU. Compete in qualifiers and then their national championships (they have divisions for all ages and ranks).

You won't have to worry about making the national team until you're a blackbelt and have some wins under your belt.

Mostly though, like I said first...train hard.

Peace,
Erik

Well BK has said just about everything needed to be said.

 

[terryl965]

There are a few exceptions. Herb Perez represented the U.S at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when he was 32 and he won a gold medal. I don't know how old he was when he started practicing and the level of competition today is, I think, much higher than it was in 1992.

Yea but if memory serves me right it was still a demostrtion sport at those games. The competition is so hiigh that we have too many top level fighters out their that wind up on other countrys National Teams. We need to get proper support for all of our hopefuls.

 

[Peace & Harmony]

yeah thats true, i think that i will stick to doing national and international competitions

 

[Tez3]

The other way to get into an Olympic team may be if you can prove you have a parent or grandparent from another competing country and try for their team. The UK team is much the same as the US one as TKD is strong here but perhaps a country where the sport isn't so strong. The hard work recommended by the others still stands though!

 

[Peace & Harmony]

thanks! well the problem with that is i dont have any other family members that play for another country lol but at this point im quite content with making the usa national team and doing international competitions. cus i think that would really fun!

 

[Tez3]

thanks! well the problem with that is i dont have any other family members that play for another country lol but at this point im quite content with making the usa national team and doing international competitions. cus i think that would really fun!

Well, can't argue with that!

 

[Peace & Harmony]

agreed! and i know im helping other people by starting this post but i have another question and maybe you could help me on this one. if i do make the usa national team for taekwondo, do you think it wiould be like a job? something that would require my 100 % full commitment?

 

[Tez3]

agreed! and i know im helping other people by starting this post but i have another question and maybe you could help me on this one. if i do make the usa national team for taekwondo, do you think it wiould be like a job? something that would require my 100 % full commitment?

To compete in the Olympics at any sport one has to be more than 100% dedicated, TKD is no different in that respect. We have a lass in our town who is an Olympic swimmer,she was at school with my daughter. This girl started young, winning local comps then county then nationals,Europeans and World championships. It takes all her time and all her efforts to train and compete. Her parents and I know many here will understand this, have spent a great deal of money time and effort to help her get where she is. Her older sister is a retired Olympic swimmer so they've had it twice.
To be picked to represent your country you have to be the best of the best, even in the lesser known and less popular sports there's hundreds if not thousands competing for places, in a sport like Olympic TKD in the States I imagine there's a great many more potential Olympians and if you haven't got your BB yet thats a hell of a lot of time you have to make up on to get ahead of those who have been training for years.
I wouldn't say it was impossible but it would be a massive commitment requiring probably quite ruthless ambition and some good luck to get noticed at this point.

 

[Peace & Harmony]

yeah i do understand that, im 20 in college and im a white belt so i have quite a while to make even apply or how ever you do it to be a part of the usa national team lol. but i do train while i am in college and for some reason im more interested in tkd than i am with school lol. but that is my dream and i know nothing will stop me from reaching my goal to travel the world and represent my country and my art

 

[Tez3]

To be honest I wouldn't want to put you off, I'd say go for what your dream is. I've just lost a student of mine in Afghan same age as you and life is very precious. If it seems making the team looks impossible I'd say do your best and go for it, who knows, the journey there may be better than the actual goal. whatever though, do make the most of your life, don't waste it with what if's and maybes, As Bruce Lee said, 'Don't think, do!"

 

[Peace & Harmony]

wow, im sorry for the loss of the 20 year old. and i will def keep that in mind, i was laying down yesterday and until now i really didnt know what i wanted to do with my life, but i did know that i love many things, violin, wrting, reading etc but most of all, taekwondo. i know the road will be long and hard, but what dream isnt hard you know? in relation to the girl that did competitons and such for swmming, did she get paid for any of the copetitons that she did? im not doing this stuff for the money, dont get me wrong. i was just wondering thats all.