AGE: 27 years old
SPORT: Men’s taekwondo, under-67kilogram category
SPORT: Men’s taekwondo, under-67kilogram category
OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE: Two-time Olympian
MEDALS: Two-time Southeast Asian Games champion Bronze medalist, 2007 World Championships
27-year old Taekwondo Jin, Tshomlee Go is one of the country’s best bets for the first-ever, much coveted Olympic gold. Getting to the Olympics wasn’t one of Tshomlee’s goals at first, but his natural talent made him worthy to take part in the world’s most prestigious sporting event. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be Tshomlee’s second trip to the Olympics, having competed in Athens in 2004.
Taekwondo goes beyond being a sport to Tshomlee, it’s actually a family thing. His father and two brothers used to be members of the Philippine National Taekwondo team. And at the age of seven, Tshomlee’s love for Taekwondo began.
Although his interest started when he was young, his strong desire to compete began the moment he saw his older brother on television competing at the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei.
Fueled by his desire, discipline, dedication and love for the sport, Tshomlee sparred his way to a winning streak. “Importante talagang mahal mo yung sport pati yung full commitment ng athlete.” (Love for your sport is very important as well as the athletes’s full commitment to it.)
Tshomlee, along with fellow Taekwondo Jin and Olympian, Toni Rivero, trains twice a day from Monday to Friday. Tshomlee says he sacrifices a lot to train, but everything is worth it. “Walang time masyado para sa gimik at konti lang para sa pahinga pero kailangan talaga yung training.” (There’s not much time for going out and little time for rest, but training is really essential.)
Other than sparring training, Tshomlee puts gravity on mental preparation for an excellent performance in this year’s Olympics. He is more optimistic about his second trip to the games this August. “Mas mature na yung laro ko ngayon. Alam ko na yung diskarte ko.” (My game is more mature now compared to before. I already have a strategy in mind.) He adds, “I’m more excited about the Olympics this time since I’m already familiar with the flow.”
Tshomlee is far from how he was when he started out as a member of the national team. “Noon, ginagawan ko talaga ng paraan para makarating lang ako sa gym. Maraming excuse, pero kung gusto mo talaga, gagawa at gagawa ka ng paraan para makuha mo yun.” (I used to do everything in my capacity just so I could get to the gym for training. There are a lot of excuses, but if you really want something, you’ll find a way to achieve it.) The opportunities for Tshomlee started pouring in when he became a class A athlete. He was even financially independent when he started college.
The bemedalled Taekwondo Jin dedicates his performance in every competition to his family, to his loved ones, to the country and to God. “My family and all the people who support me provide me the encouragement even when I’m burnt out.” The Olympian also believes that all his skills and talents come from God.
fter the Olympics, Tshomlee plans to teach Taekwondo to kids and maybe join the US navy just like his father, who used to serve for the Philippine Marines.
The thrill and challenge of Taekwondo keeps Tshomlee up on his feet. With his great love for the sport, complemented by his lightning fast kicks and spars, Tshomlee is well on his way to bringing honor to the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
27-year old Taekwondo Jin, Tshomlee Go is one of the country’s best bets for the first-ever, much coveted Olympic gold. Getting to the Olympics wasn’t one of Tshomlee’s goals at first, but his natural talent made him worthy to take part in the world’s most prestigious sporting event. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be Tshomlee’s second trip to the Olympics, having competed in Athens in 2004.
Taekwondo goes beyond being a sport to Tshomlee, it’s actually a family thing. His father and two brothers used to be members of the Philippine National Taekwondo team. And at the age of seven, Tshomlee’s love for Taekwondo began.
Although his interest started when he was young, his strong desire to compete began the moment he saw his older brother on television competing at the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei.
Fueled by his desire, discipline, dedication and love for the sport, Tshomlee sparred his way to a winning streak. “Importante talagang mahal mo yung sport pati yung full commitment ng athlete.” (Love for your sport is very important as well as the athletes’s full commitment to it.)
Tshomlee, along with fellow Taekwondo Jin and Olympian, Toni Rivero, trains twice a day from Monday to Friday. Tshomlee says he sacrifices a lot to train, but everything is worth it. “Walang time masyado para sa gimik at konti lang para sa pahinga pero kailangan talaga yung training.” (There’s not much time for going out and little time for rest, but training is really essential.)
Other than sparring training, Tshomlee puts gravity on mental preparation for an excellent performance in this year’s Olympics. He is more optimistic about his second trip to the games this August. “Mas mature na yung laro ko ngayon. Alam ko na yung diskarte ko.” (My game is more mature now compared to before. I already have a strategy in mind.) He adds, “I’m more excited about the Olympics this time since I’m already familiar with the flow.”
Tshomlee is far from how he was when he started out as a member of the national team. “Noon, ginagawan ko talaga ng paraan para makarating lang ako sa gym. Maraming excuse, pero kung gusto mo talaga, gagawa at gagawa ka ng paraan para makuha mo yun.” (I used to do everything in my capacity just so I could get to the gym for training. There are a lot of excuses, but if you really want something, you’ll find a way to achieve it.) The opportunities for Tshomlee started pouring in when he became a class A athlete. He was even financially independent when he started college.
The bemedalled Taekwondo Jin dedicates his performance in every competition to his family, to his loved ones, to the country and to God. “My family and all the people who support me provide me the encouragement even when I’m burnt out.” The Olympian also believes that all his skills and talents come from God.
fter the Olympics, Tshomlee plans to teach Taekwondo to kids and maybe join the US navy just like his father, who used to serve for the Philippine Marines.
The thrill and challenge of Taekwondo keeps Tshomlee up on his feet. With his great love for the sport, complemented by his lightning fast kicks and spars, Tshomlee is well on his way to bringing honor to the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
TSHOMLEE GO couldn’t believe it.
He found himself sitting next to Chinese superstar Yao Ming inside an internet café in Athens during the 2004 Olympic Games.
Four years later, Go admitted he is still awed by the Olympic experience. But in Beijing, he said he wants to leave an impression on the world as well.
“Let’s see,” Go, half of the two-member Olympic taekwondo team, responded when asked how good his chances are.
“I have nothing to guarantee, but just a good fight all throughout,” he added.
Go will compete in the men’s light flyweight category. He knows everything else surrounding his stint in these Games—his second Olympics—will be heavy. That includes the presumption that he has one of the better chances of clinching a medal. Not just any medal but the gold medal.
“I will just go out there to compete and win,” Go said. “I know how prepared I am and how much I wanted to win.”
There’s certainly motivation from within. In Athens, Go never got past the first round after he fell to a Spaniard in what Team Philippines called at the time “a robbery”.
“It was clearly his fight,” Go’s 2004 coach Jesus Morales III said after the loss. “He dominated the fight and instead of getting the breaks with the calls, it was his opponent.”
Go, an education major at the University of Santo Tomas, slowly but surely got up on his feet.
In 2005, Go won the gold medal in the under-67kg category in the Manila Southeast Asian Games. In 2007, he defended the same championship and emerged the only Filipino gold winner in taekwondo in the Thailand SEA Games.
During the World Championships held in the same year in Manchester, Go took home a bronze to secure a return trip to the Olympics. There, he went through the proverbial needle’s eye, pulling off close victories in the early rounds before succumbing 15-0 to a Taiwanese opponent in the semifinals.
“Until now, I think about my performance in Manchester,” Go said. “That was one of a kind. I hope I could duplicate that in the Olympics.”
Those waiting for him in Beijing include Athens champion Mu Yen-Chu (the jin from Chinese-Taipei who beat Go in Manchester) and Juan Antonio Ramos (the Spaniard who eliminated Go in the Greece Olympiad).
The Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) personally visited Go and teammate Toni Rivero during their training in Korea and the national federation reported good news.
“The way they’ve been training, I would say that they have a good chance to win an Olympic gold," PTA president Robert Aventajado told reporters upon arriving in Manila.
Go said he feels good about the Korea sojourn that lasted more than a month.
“Nothing beats preparation,” Go stressed. “I know who to avoid, but when I have no other choice but to face them, I will give them a good fight and let’s see what happens next. “The exposure I got in 2004 has been helping me big-time. I am pretty excited.”
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