Rising taekwondo star looking ahead to Paris after painful loss in Tokyo

CHIBA, Japan-- After suffering an unexpected loss in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympic taekwondo competition Saturday, South Korean practitioner Jang Jun had about five agonizing hours to go before the bronze medal contest.

He could have sulked the whole time and wallowed in self pity. After all, the 21-year-old, No. 1 in the world in the 58kg division, was considered an odds-on favorite to take the gold at Makuhari Messe Hall A in Chiba, just east of the Japanese capital.

Jang used that time wisely, regrouping mentally before taking out his lingering frustration on Omar Salim of Hungary in a 46-16 rout for the bronze medal.

Jang said he heard encouraging words from his coaches and other people around him during the break. Yes, they knew his only goal was to win the gold in Japan. But still, winning a medal of any color would still be a great accomplishment for the first-time Olympian.

He took care of the "winning a medal" part but Jang wasn't entirely satisfied. He has already begun looking ahead to the next Olympics in Paris, now three years away after the Tokyo event got postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Now that I've had my taste of the Olympics, I'd love to win gold in Paris," Jang said. "I am taking some painful memories from here. But I will forget about them if I get the gold medal at the next Olympics."

Since making his senior international debut in 2018 as a high school senior Jang had known nothing but success.

He won the Asian championship in May 2018 and then captured a Grand Prix title in August that year.

A World Grand Prix Final championship followed in November, and then the first career world title in 2019. He was named the Male Athlete of the Year by the World Taekwondo (WT) for 2019.

Jang knocked off the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Kim Tae-hun in the South Korean Olympic trials in January last year.

Without the COVID-19 delay, perhaps Jang would have been able to ride that momentum and captured gold. But the pandemic didn't just affect the Olympics. It wiped out many international taekwondo events. Before the Tokyo Olympics, Jang hadn't been in a competition since the Olympic trials 18 months ago.

Going from sparring with teammates to competing for an Olympic medal proved to be too much of a leap for Jang.

"I felt rusty because I didn't get into any competition because of COVID-19, and then I had jump right into the Olympics, the biggest event of them all," Jang said. "I was way too nervous and I let the pressure (to win a medal) get to me."

Jang put his disappointment aside in time to win his bronze, and celebrated by waving the national flag, Taegeukgi, as he trotted around the court.

"I haven't done it since my junior days, around 2016 or 2017," Jang said with a smile. "But it would have been better if I had done that with a gold medal."

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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