Leemisa Thuseho
THE Lesotho Taekwondo Association (LTA) has picked a team of four fighters who will represent the country in the African Qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The qualifiers will take place in Rabat, Morocco on February 22 and 23.
LTA public relations officer Sek’hok’he Molikoe said the athletes were selected based on their recent performances.
“The players are likely to start working with the coach tomorrow (Saturday) and they are being financed by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee,” Molikoe said.
The team is made up of Marumo Moloisane, Michelle Tau, Nkuebe Ramosoeu and Rethabile Tjotjo.
The same athletes also represented the country at the 2019 Africa Games in Rabat where Tau brought home a silver medal from those games.
According to Molikoe, the team will leave the country on the 18th February and is expected back in the country on the 25th of this month.
Molikoe gave credit to the LNOC for giving them an opportunity to send a maximum quota of athletes to the qualifiers.
“We have a quota of four athletes for the qualifiers; two female and two males and we are happy that the LNOC is assisting us send all the athletes. That motivates our players and even increases our chances of qualifying,” Molikoe added.
As part of the athletes’ preparations for the qualifiers, Moloisane and Tau have been based at the Taekwondo Competence Centre (TCC) in Germany. Moloisane is in Germany through the 2020 Olympic Solidarity Scholarship for athletes while Tau is under self-sponsorship.
Ramosoeu is under the LNOC High Performance Programme while Tjotjo is under the Podium Performance Programme (PPP) under the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC).
If the four athletes qualify, this will be the first time for all four to compete in the Olympics.
The Sunday Express is aware that Tjotjo and Ramosoeu will be coached by Liau Molikoe while the German duo will work with Markus Kohloffel.
This will be Lesotho will be represented in taekwondo since the 2004 Athens Olympics. Lesotho was represented by Lineo Mochesane at the games.
Tau recently told the Sunday Express that she was ready for the challenge and was ready to earn her first Olympic qualification.
“Everything is going on well and I am training as usual; just counting days. This is what I have been preparing for since I came here (Germany) to train.
“I am ready for the challenge and I promise to do my best or even surpass my best if possible. God is with me and anything is possible. All we need to do is to believe and work hard to achieve what we want,” Tau said.
Molikoe said he was also ready to start and prepare the athletes for the qualifiers. He was however, reluctant to comment on his team citing that he was yet to meet the players and assess them.
“I am ready to start working with the players any time LTA orders. I can’t say much before assessing the athletes myself. In terms of time, I think it will depend on how the athletes will react to my strategies,” Molikoe said.