This week, Smartlife talks with Laksami Yumankong, the Thai taekwondo star who won a bronze medal last month at the World University Games in Turkey.

  Laksami, or “Kae”, started learning the sport at Oasis, a gym in her hometown of Khon Kaen province. She was about 14 years old when she followed her younger brother into the sport, which originated in Korea.

  “I just wanted to play for fun and health,” says the 21-year-old. “My only goal at that time was to earn a green belt.”

  However, after getting her green belt, Kae participated in a tournament, and that’s when she felt the attraction and challenge of the sport and decided to pursue it seriously.

  Kae’s family, especially her father, played a crucial role in her success.

  “If my father knew there was a good taekwondo coach, he never hesitated to drive me there, no matter how far away the coach lived,” she says.

  Kae’s father once drove more than 100 kilometres to Korat on a Friday night just so she could practise over the weekend. They returned Monday morning.

  “I owe my dad a lot. Without his support, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” she says, adding that her father used to wake up every morning at dawn to go jogging with her.

  After seven years of hard work, Kae was chosen to represent Thailand in the World University Games in Turkey. It was both her debut with the national squad and her first international event.

  She returned with a bronze medal in the women’s 59-kilogram featherweight category. It was also Thailand’s first medal in the World University Games, following 20 years of competition.

  “My team told me that I was in a good draw. But to be honest, I wasn’t worried much about my opponents,” Kae says. “What bothered me most was that I was too light. I had to drink water to increase my weight to reach the minimum weight set for my category.”

  Kae lost to Spain in the battle for the silver medal. Perhaps she would have won if she were a little heavier. But it seemed success was partly dependent on luck too, she said.

  Kae believes that was her younger brother was her talisman, a kind of lucky presence for her to be able to win the medal.

  “I touched his head and told him that if I won a medal I’d buy him a gold necklace. And I really won. That’s amazing,” she says with a laugh.

  She can easily keep her promise. Her reward from Thailand’s National Sports Development Foundation was Bt500,000.

  Kae says she plans to continue practising to improve her skills, but she hasn’t decided whether to enter any upcoming tournaments because that would put undue pressure on her. “I will leave it to the future. Now, I want to have fun with taekwondo,” she says.

  While other people may be obsessed with gold and silver medal winners, Kae says she’s happy with the bronze and knows how hard her competitors trained.

  “To be honest, I understand the situation and don’t feel sad about it,” she says. “I know how hard they practised and what they went through before being successful. They really deserve it.”

  Watchara Saengsrisin

  The Nation