Back in Canberra - FREEZING!

Im back at the AIS now, preparing for the games! The last few days have been absolutely freezing and I wish I was somewhere else! The team is formally announced this week so for some of us we are happy to be continuing on with a new chapter in our Olympic journeys, however, most of the squad is in a state of bitter saddness because their time here is ending. For me, although happy to be selected on the Olympic Squad I am also sad to see my friends go through the emotions of not being chosen. I know how it feels to work so hard and have your dreams shattered at the last moment. ...But I am sure they will pick themselves up again and achieve great things in the future.

The past week we have endured swim, gym, soccer and intense training sessions. I learnt how to do a clean and jerk, and snatch for the first time in the gym!!! THAT WAS SO COOL! I thought I was pretty special being able to clean and jerk 40 kilos and I went home to check Olympic records for weightlifting to see if I might be able to change sports later hahaha!!!... I think the record was 142kgs ...so I will just stick to what Im good at and thats taekwondo:)

We also had a pre-team announcement dinner at the AIS. It was basically to thank all the support staff here and to welcome our sport into the Institute. Again, although it was a pleasant evening, the tension amongst the squad was high regarding selection and non selection.

Anyways this Friday the 23rd is the teams formal announcement for all those interested! I'll keep you posted on whats coming up!

SPANISH OPEN: Alicante

The Spanish Open was held in Spain, Alicante on the 25-27th of April. I fought the 57-67kg division. It was a round robin competition comprised of two pools. I fought and beat the current World Champ from Canada 5-3, Spain 6-4 and Sweden in the final 6-3. I was also meant to fight New Zealand in the early stages however she pulled out. It was a good result for me, especially considering on the day I was so sick!

The pictures I have in the album above are of the competition and of our time in Spain. Because we hadn't seen much sun in Korea we enjoyed it at the beach doing recovery sessions. There was also a gym set on the beach we decided to test out!

MY RESULT:

GOLD: Australia - Tina Morgan
Silver: Sweden - Lye Kilborn
Bronze: Canada - Karine Sergerie
Bronze: Morocco - Mounia Abbersoule

KOREA TRAINING CAMP!

Well it definately was a long six weeks in Korea this time.... having been my 15th time...???

I don't know how much I would rate Korea this time round. I normally love going there however it was a long 6 weeks with everyone and everyday felt like groundhog day. During the week we would gym it, eat, sleep, train, eat some more and then sleep again. Saturday afternoon and Sunday we could treasure as our own and make of it what we wanted. I suppose to sum it up, it was an intense fighting camp that tested not just our physical and taekwondo capibilities but also our mental toughness.

Some of the things we got up to other than training then was:
1) We went to Lotte World: A massive amusement park. I swear I will never ever ever go on the ride that plumits all the way to the ground! I dont know what was more scarier, going up slowly or waiting at the top to drop!
2) Visited MyeDong! We mainly went here for an amazing chicken salad they served! Other than that it was a good place to shop and look around.
3) Spaghettia: Number one Spaghetti place we visited alot!
4) Dongdaemoon: A night shopping market.
5) Jin jing Ban: A Korea sauna! The place we went to was three levels high...the first floor had all cold and hot water pools. The second and third floors consisted of hot and cold sauna rooms. Each room had a different scenery with tvs inside. Also on this level was an oxygen room. This room appeared more like lots of little dog kennels.

Theres lots MOre to talk about....but having travelled for 2 days straight, with no sleep!.. I have to come back to this!

GERMAN OPEN ---GOLD

Above are some pics from the German Open where I am still very sweaty and messy from fighting! The awarding ceremony was quick on court due to the large number of competitors at this event (1200...so thats why I am upstairs~!)

I fought:
1) Kazhakhstan: 7-1
2) Germany, disqualified
3) Spain, 1-0
4) Netherlands, 4-1
5) Croatia, 7-0

It was great to be out there again! It was a little different this time because we used electornic scoring...which meant you had to score your own points and not rely on referees to press the buzzer thus trying to eliminate bias. The system has definately progressed since last time I used it but there is always room for further improvement.

5th Place - Olympic Test Event

Bronze Medal Match (Final of Repacharge)
Losing the Bronze Medal Match (5-4)

The comp finished a few days ago and I am now in Germany preparing for the German Open. I ended up equal 5th place on the tally in China.

I opened up strongly in the competition, winning against Japan 7-0 and then Sweden 3-1. In the semi final I was edged out by China 2-1 and then I went into a reparcharge system to fight off for bronze. In the final of that reparcharge I lost again to a chinese athlete 5-4. My mistakes came from a split second lack of concerntration, conservatism and perhaps lack of matt time. Although I am very dissapointed with the result (no medal) I am happy that I am back fighting fit again!!!

When I look at things in perspective, 10 months ago I could not kick at all - let alone walk, and now I am back doing the thing I love so much. This was my first official international comp since my injury and as far as I can see the only way is up!

.........Towards Gold in Beijing!>>>>>>>>>>>HUNGRYYYYYYY!

BEIJING: GOOD LUCK OLYMPIC TEST EVENT

The time has finally come to compete at the Olympic Test Event in China. From the 26th Feb to the 29th, four Aussie athletes will fight to test themselves against the best and see how they will fair come this Olympics. Although not all the athletes qualified for the games will be present, there will be other athletes to fill the quota and make the gold medal just deserved. As I see it, it is a look, a see and a feel....

Bits n pieces about Beijing so far:
1 = The weather is quite cold but not as bad as we expected. -3 is just ...crisp!
2= Good healthy food is a little hard to come by but we all have our protein power bars to keep us in check!
3= The competition venue looks amazing! We saw the referees do a trial run and trained in the warm up area! You can see some of the pics above from 2 venues.
4= Daniel J has discovered a new excting way to train by himself!

The schedule :

1st day: Safwan -58kgs: First fight against Japan
2nd Day: Daniel -68kgs: First fight against China
3rd Day: Tina -67kgs: First fight against Japan
4th Day: Carmen +67kgs: First fight against Brazil.

Since it is a test event, the comp will be run exactly like it is at the Olympics. So we will have 4 fights to win gold, and if in the case we lose to the gold or silver medallist we will go through a repacharge system. To ensure the bronze here we would have to make the final of this system.

Anyhoooo Wish us luck! xxx

OLYMPIC PREPARATION TOUR

The Aussies are getting geared up for a major tour before the Olympics. For myself I have been appointed to go to China for the Olympic Test Event and after that we will head off to Germany for the German Open, Korea for a month training camp and then Spain for the Spanish Open.

I believe the test event will be a great event to see how I fair in the world again, show I"M BACK and a good chance to get over the "WOW" factor the Olympics bring. That probably sounds really strange to some because the Olympics is always "WOW"!!!!I guess to explain it... the more I know what to expect the less stress I'll unconsciously put on myself in August: THUS GIVING A GOLD MEDAL PERFORMANCE.

The Team going to the Olympic Test Event:

http://www.taekwondo2008.org.cn/en/

Daniel Trenton: Head Coach

1) Safwan Khalil: -58kgs

2) Burak Hasan: -68kgs

3) Tina Morgan: -67kgs

4) Carmen Marton: +67kgs

BAHRI & AZIZE QUALIFIED

1: Turkey
2: Azebaijan
3: England 1: Croatia
2: Turkey
3: Israel

Just an update on whats happening on the Olympic front. Both my boyfriend and his sister have now also qualified for the Olympic Games. Bahri won the European Qualification last weekend, beating Moldova, Armenia, Poland and Azebaijan. Azize narrowly finished 2nd to Croatia but booked her ticket to the games non the less. 2008 is shaping out to be a much better year than the last.