RIO DE JANEIRO—The punishing route to the medal round for taekwondo fighter Kirstie Elaine Alora begins with having to overcome a foe that has more medals won in her career than her chest has space for.
Alora takes on former world and Olympic champion Maria Espinoza of Mexico in the preliminary round of the +67-kilogram taekwondo competition on Saturday, seeking the first of at least two wins to contend for the bronze medal, or three successive victories to land in the finals outright.
The country’s lone taekwondo entry in this Olympics is the only Filipino athlete yet to see action here from the original 13 that qualified or were given special berths to compete.
Filipino-American hurdler Eric Cray and long jumper Marestella Torres-Sunang were the last two athletes to be bumped off from these Games, with Cray tumbling out of the 400-meter hurdles semifinals and Sunang missing the Final 12 in the women’s long jump on Tuesday night.
Ironically, though, it will be easier for the 27-year-old Alora to clinch a spot in the finals with three wins in a row than reach the bronze-medal phase with two wins and then face taller opponents due to taekwondo’s unconventional medal system.
“For me, it’s a lot difficult to win the bronze than earn a finals spot,” said Alora, who at 5-foot-8 is deemed a bit short in a weight class that has several credentialed 6-footers, including the entries from China, Serbia and France.
“For sure I will face much taller opponents if I win my first two fights.”
Strange still is taekwondo’s compassion for the first-round losers, part of the system of progression called repechage.
Even if Alora loses to Espinoza on Saturday night, she can still contend for the bronze medal in the repechage, provided the Mexican goes all the ways to the finals.
Waiting for her, though, will be fighters from the upper half of the draw who, based on average height, are at least two inches taller than the entries in the Filipino’s lower half of the bracket, according to the draw sheet that was released only yesterday.
Espinoza won the golds in both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the world championships, the bronze in London 2012 and more than a dozen continental and Grand Prix titles.
The Biñan, Laguna-born Alora made it to Rio by seizing the silver medal in her weight division during taekwondo’s continental Olympic qualifying in June in Manila.
On Wednesday afternoon, she watched the first day of the televised taekwondo competition at Carioca Arena 3 in Olympic Park before training in the Athletes Village with her coach Roberto Cruz in the evening.
“I will have a more difficult time if I win my first two fights and then lose in the semifinals,” said Alora. “That means all the fighters I’ll meet to clinch the bronze will be a lot taller than me.”
Apart from Cray and Sunang, the other also-ran Filipino athletes here are flag-bearer Ian Lariba of table tennis, swimmers Jasmine Alkhaldi and Jessie Khing Lacuna, judoka Kodo Nakano, marathoner Mary Joy Tabal, boxers Rogen Ladon and Charly Suarez, golfer Miguel Tabuena and lifters Nestor Colonia and Hidilyn Diaz.
Diaz, the 25-year-old three-time Olympian from Zamboanga City, finally ended the country’s 20-year medal spell in the Summer Games by nailing the silver in the women’s 53 kg class 10 days ago.
A medal of any color from Alora will give the country its best finish ever in the Olympics.
Sunang and Cray are scheduled to leave for Manila and Texas, respectively on Aug. 19, leaving Alora as the only Filipino athlete yet to check out of the Athletes’ Village.