Chris Theko
Lesotho taekwondo star, Michelle Tau is currently in Togo for a week-long training camp where she is in the beginning stages of her road to Paris, France for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Tau left the country last week for the 2022 Niger Taekwondo Open. The tournament which was held at the Niamey Sports Palace came to an end last week.
She launched her 2022 fighting season with a second place finish and a silver medal in the Females 46 Kg category.
Although she lost in the final to Ida Kevine Bama of Burkina Faso, she however, was content with her performance considering that she has gone for months without fighting.
The Togo Camp started on Saturday and ends today, following her training trip to Benin days before.
Tau said she was pleased with how she has started her campaign after a long break.
“The fight I had in Niger was my first in a long time and I think getting a silver medal was not a bad start,†Tau said.
“Although I won a silver medal, I still feel like I did not perform to the best of my potential, it could be due to the lengthy time I took away from competitive fighting as a result of the Covid-19 regulations.
“But I am still happy with what I have achieved and remain hopeful that I will do better in my next fights,†she said.
She highlighted the importance of the camp saying it will be very helpful in her performance because there are other athletes from around the continent.
“The camp is going to be very helpful because I am training with other athletes from other countries on the continent. I need to be having a lot of sparing and training so it is best when done with some of the best in the sport,†Tau said.
The Togo camp as well as the Benin camp attracted athletes from the host country along with others from Niger, Morocco and Belgium.
Tau is one of the beneficiaries of the Olympic Solidarity Scholarships that are meant to help athletes prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics through the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC).
