Leemisa Thuseho

MARUMO Moloisane is still uncertain about the future of his taekwondo career since suffering a long-term knee injury in Germany last year.

Moloisane had been at the Taekwondo Competence Centre (TCC) in Germany since 2017 preparing for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics Games. He was in Germany under a four-year Olympic Solidarity Athletes Scholarship facilitated by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC).

However, he was forced to return home permanently late last year after failing to qualify for the Olympics and his scholarship was not renewed.

This was the second time for Moloisane to miss the Olympics. The first time was in 2016 when he failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics after performing below par in the African Olympic Qualification Tournament in Agadir, Morocco.

After failing to qualify for the Olympics this time around, the LNOC resolved not to renew his scholarship.

Moloisane suffered a knee injury during a training ahead of the Africa Games that were held in Rabat, Morocco in August 2019. He therefore, sees the injury posing a threat to his career.

He told the Lesotho Times this week that although he still wants to pursue his career, he remains uncertain whether or not the injury will allow him.

“I will back in action once sports activities resume but I don’t know if the injury will allow me. I have been on the side lines for a long time and I don’t know the state of my injury because I have not yet tested the injury in fights… I will only be able to accurately gauge myself through fights. I will need several fights before I can convince myself that I can still compete.

“It is obvious that even if I return to action, it will never be the same… It is going to be difficult for me to retain my form and the injury is also likely to shorten my career,” Moloisane said.