Chris Theko
Taekwondo star, Michelle Tau, has once again hoisted Lesotho’s flag by winning a bronze medal at the Winner Israel Open Taekwondo G2 Championship in Ramla, Israel on Sunday.
Tau was the only Lesotho athlete at the event.
She won in the quarter-finals against the Israel national team but lost to the Korean national team hence settling for a bronze medal for Lesotho.
This was Tau’s second major tournament this year after the African Taekwondo Senior Championships that took place in Kigali, Rwanda, two months ago where she finished outside the podium place.
Tau told Newsday Sports this week that she was thankful to have won a medal even though she was targeting first place.
“I am thankful, although I had a different goal,†Tau said, noting she is confident about her track following a four-month competitive break.
“I am honestly happy to be getting back my form. My performance had really dropped after being home for a long time and out of these international competitions.
“It is not the result I wanted, but I am happy about the fight and about how the competition went. Given the current situation, I still have the opportunity to work on flaws and fix them,†she said.
Tau is currently working towards being part of the Lesotho Olympics team.
The 2024 Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in Paris, France, but Tau hoping to attend some more open tournaments like the World Champions before then.
Tau has been in Israel since June this year while awaiting her visa approval to be heading to Belgium where she will be based at the taekwondo training centre.
Since 2019, Tau who is the second-rated taekwondo female athlete in Africa under her category of 46Kgs, has won a gold medal at the 2019 and 2020 Creti Cup, two gold medals at the 2019 Baden Wurttemberg, silver medals at the 2019 Africa Games and Croatia Open.
Last year, she went on to win bronze medals at Germany and Dutch Open events.
