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OLYMPIC EXPERIENCES<br />
by Sarah Chung (MAS)<br />
Dear Dean, Lecturers, Coordinators, Translators and my Fellow Participants. I<br />
am Sarah Chung from Malaysia. I was a taekwondo athlete at the 1992 Olympics<br />
in Barcelona. At that time, taekwondo was an exhibition sport but it will be a medal<br />
sport in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.<br />
I would like to share with you my Olympic experience. My sport highlight began<br />
when I started practising taekwondo at the age of eleven, and getting serious<br />
four years later when I won my first National title. My Olympic dream started<br />
when I found out that taekwondo will be an Olympic Exhibition sport in 1988 and<br />
1992. I decided to dedicate the next few years of my life to my quest to compete<br />
in the Olympic Games. Every time I listened to the Olympic anthem, I would feel<br />
that I am there with all the participants. I would get really excited and emotional<br />
and it even gave me goose bumps.<br />
The message of Olympism to all individuals is to strive for excellence in order<br />
to surpass themselves. In 1988, I did not qualify for the Seoul Olympics. I was sad<br />
but I strongly believe that failure is the key to success. I trained hard and even<br />
went in for many international competitions. In 1992,I knew that the Asian Championship<br />
was the final tournament for me to qualify for the Olympic Games. In order<br />
to achieve that Olympic dream, I had to balance my training and studies as I<br />
was in my final year of my honours program. Believe me my friends, it is not easy.<br />
Unfortunately, three days before the tournament, I had a hairline fracture on<br />
the fibula bone of my right foot. The doctor advised me to withdraw from the tournament<br />
due to the injury. As my passion and desire was so strong, I convinced the<br />
doctor that everything would be fine and promised to take responsibility for my<br />
injury. With the blessings of God, family, coaches and friends, I managed to win.<br />
This gold medal has great significance for myself and my country. It was and still<br />
is the first and only gold medal in the history of Malaysia Taekwondo at Asian<br />
level. No words could describe my feelings at that moment when I stood at the podium.<br />
Because of my achievement, the Olympic Council of Malaysia recommended<br />
me to the World Taekwondo Federation, representing the Asian region in the<br />
Heavyweight Category in the Barcelona Games.<br />
Unfortunately the proposal was rejected. The International Federation reaso-<br />
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