The Straits Times details the Olympic dreams and charts the journey of athletes from the region.
A boxer from Thailand. A gymnast from the Philippines. An archer from Indonesia. A cyclist from Malaysia. In a series of profiles, Jutamas Jitpong bounces around the ring, eyes shielded by her gloved fists as she looks for an opening to land a jab. Her opponent lunges forward with a cross that is easily dodged.
The 26-year-old daughter of rubber tappers, with the nickname of “Fave”, has waited three years to redeem herself. During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she crashed out in the flyweight quarter-finals, losing 5-0 to Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu, who went on to win the silver medal. She cried when interviewed by the Thai media after the match.At the age of six, the girl who practised pencak silat regularly loved a good one-on-one fight.
“I couldn’t focus on one thing. I couldn’t play with just one toy. I had to have several at the same time,” said the 27-year-old, whose father was a national pencak silat athlete and mother was a national archer.The Filipino gymnastics dynamo has been called many names in the past months – distracted, an ingrate, a two-time world champion who may have botched his chances of returning to the Olympics.
“I take time alone to relax and find peace. I recite a prayer and then listen to a song to warm up... My favourite song is Training Season by Dua Lipa,” she told the Straits Times.
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