Taekwondo wonder- kid eyes 2024 Olympics
Up and coming martial artist Karabo Kula of Botswana Taekwondo Federation had a very successful year in 2019, winning bronze at the Africa Games and later gold medal at the Pan- African games in the United States of America. That gave her much exposure and something to smile about as she was nominated for BNSC Awards this year. Her hard work and focus was squarely aimed at trying by all means to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, a mission which seems impossible now that qualification have been extended for international sporting showpiece. With the prospects of qualifying very low, the sky is the limit for the 17 yearold martial artist who has instead set her eyes on 2024 Olympics. “My chances of qualifying are super low. At the moment I’m focusing on 2024 Olympics and upcoming World Championships.
I will be working on putting Botswana Taekwondo on the map and not only I will be putting my name and country out there, I will be making my parents the proudest people on the planet which brings blessings unto me. And I thank God for that,” she said. Just like in cycling, it is very difficult to qualify for Olympics in taekwondo since athletes need to attend as many tournaments as possible in order to accumulate points and have better positions in the ranking system. In addition, athletes need either a green card from the International Olympics Committee or qualify through Taekwondo Olympic Qualifiers. “For better chances of qualifying you need to accumulate points to increase your rank to Top 5, which is very hard to reach. In order for a person to reach Top 5 rank worldwide, one needs to compete in ranked competitions such as Grand Prix, Grand Slams and reach podium level a lot. My number one dream is to reach Olympic level and top 10 ranked worldwide. That’s where I already see myself,” explained Kula. A taekwondo fighter of 46- 49kg weight category, Kula has already tried her luck at one of the Olympic qualifier events and she exited at semi- final stage, an achievement she cherishes a lot. Having started taekwondo eight years ago with coaches Gladys Njoroge and Samuel Kimani under the Tae Sports Taekwondo Academy, Kula has already had her fair share of success in the game. She made her debut in the national team in November 2015, and already, the teenager has a collection of over 20 gold, 4 silvers and 3 bronze medals, all won in taekwondo only. “I was fortunate that I had teammates and a coach who stood by me during training. I fought and endured every pain and power inflicted unto me because I believe in myself and had dreams I needed to achieve,” she said. Her last competition was the Turkey Open early this year in February, an event she explains as the worst of her career since she was knocked out on the preliminaries by a Greek opponent. Since then there was no action due to Covid- 19 pandemic. In the absence of physical competitions, various national federations and World Taekwondo Federation have resorted to online tournaments to keep their players active. “I haven’t been taking part in the online tournaments because they are poomsae tournaments, on the other hand, I specialise in fighting so they ( events) don’t fall in my scope of competition. So I just help and support my teammates in taking part,” said Kula.