Cambodian Women Going for Gold
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 5:50 pm
Cambodia dreams of regional gold and sporting glory
After success at the Asian Games, country is pushing to win more medals
16 October 2018
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia gained a new hero in August, as Jessa Khan, a 16-year-old Cambodian American, won gold in women's jiujitsu, unleashing a torrent of admiring posts, shares and heart emojis across social media.
Khan was only one of two gold medalists from Cambodia in this year's Asian Games that ended early September, but to the country, the medalists offer hope that they can before long tackle competitors in the region and even globally. Cambodia certainly hopes to shine in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games that it will host in Phnom Penh, but experts say the country will need to put in a lot more training -- and funding -- to succeed.
Three medals at this year's Asian Games sets a new record for Cambodia, but it is still far below those of Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Cambodia was sending athletes to the Olympic Games from 1956 to 1972, but that stopped during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. The country sent athletes to compete as "wild cards" again in 1996, but it was not until 2016 that Sorn Seavmey became the first Cambodian to qualify in official competitions.
The biggest names in Cambodian sports are mostly women, despite the country being deeply patriarchal. Cambodia's Ouk Sreymom was world petangue champion in 2017, and Ke Leng held the world title in the sport for two years before her. And Sorn was the first to win gold in taekwondo for Cambodia at the 2014 Asian Games before competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
At least in Sorn's case, it was a lucky break, fortified by her own unwavering determination, that pushed her to the peak of the sport. She stumbled into taekwondo, after her first coach recruited her when she tagged along to her sister's practice. From there she rocketed through two years of training and quickly began netting medals in regional competitions. Her life today -- hours of training interspersed by an Adidas modeling gig and trips to the mall with friends -- is starkly different from before.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/ ... ting-glory
After success at the Asian Games, country is pushing to win more medals
16 October 2018
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia gained a new hero in August, as Jessa Khan, a 16-year-old Cambodian American, won gold in women's jiujitsu, unleashing a torrent of admiring posts, shares and heart emojis across social media.
Khan was only one of two gold medalists from Cambodia in this year's Asian Games that ended early September, but to the country, the medalists offer hope that they can before long tackle competitors in the region and even globally. Cambodia certainly hopes to shine in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games that it will host in Phnom Penh, but experts say the country will need to put in a lot more training -- and funding -- to succeed.
Three medals at this year's Asian Games sets a new record for Cambodia, but it is still far below those of Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. Cambodia was sending athletes to the Olympic Games from 1956 to 1972, but that stopped during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. The country sent athletes to compete as "wild cards" again in 1996, but it was not until 2016 that Sorn Seavmey became the first Cambodian to qualify in official competitions.
The biggest names in Cambodian sports are mostly women, despite the country being deeply patriarchal. Cambodia's Ouk Sreymom was world petangue champion in 2017, and Ke Leng held the world title in the sport for two years before her. And Sorn was the first to win gold in taekwondo for Cambodia at the 2014 Asian Games before competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
At least in Sorn's case, it was a lucky break, fortified by her own unwavering determination, that pushed her to the peak of the sport. She stumbled into taekwondo, after her first coach recruited her when she tagged along to her sister's practice. From there she rocketed through two years of training and quickly began netting medals in regional competitions. Her life today -- hours of training interspersed by an Adidas modeling gig and trips to the mall with friends -- is starkly different from before.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Life/ ... ting-glory