Taekwondo jin Kirstie Elaine Alora
Coach Roberto “Kitoy” Cruz prefers to keep Kirstie Elaine Alora under the radar to surprise her rivals in the taekwondo competitions of the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.
Alora, the country’s lone taekwondo entry in the coming Games, kicks off her Olympic medal bid on Aug. 20 against Mexican Maria Espinosa, the world’s No.1 contender in the women’s +67kg category.
Espinosa catapulted herself to global fame after claiming the gold medals in the 2007 world championships in Rio and 2008 Beijing Olympics. She placed third in the 2012 London Games.
“We’ve been watching her (Espinosa) videos, looking for weaknesses and figuring out how Elaine could score against her,” said Cruz, a 2000 Sydney Olympian and Alora’s mentor.
Ranged against the best jins in the world, Cruz pointed out that staying away from the spotlight could work in Alora’s favor.
“It’s good that Elaine’s opponents are not familiar with her style. It could work for us,” said Cruz.
According to Alora, she was bracketed with jins she hasn’t faced on the mat before. Cambodian Sorn Seavmey, Alora’s tormentor in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Manila three months ago, got picked in the other group.
“My opponents in our group are not as tall compared to the jins in the other group. We’re also not familiar with each other,” said Alora, a three-time Southeast Asian Games champion.
The bronze medalist in the 2010 Guangzhou and 2014 Incheon Asian Games has a penchant for frustrating taller and more athletic rivals in the past.
The 5-foot-6 Alora defeated 5-foot-10 Asian champion Akram Khodabandeh of Iran in the semifinals of the Manila OQT to punch the Rio ticket and sent the 5-foot-11 Seavmey, the 2014 Asian Games gold medalist, sprawling on the canvass in the 2013 SEAG finals in Burma.
Alora, who coaches at La Salle Greenhills outside of her national team duties, is looking to replicate or even surpass the bronze-medal feat of taekwondo jin Stephen Fernandez in the 1992 Barcelona Games./rga