For the second time in a row, Pauline Lopez fall short from her bid to qualify in what could be her debuting Olympics participation, but Lopez assured her following that she would be bounce back and be motivated to improve on her performance and agility in upcoming tournaments.
Lopez, who celebrated her birthday today (August 17), did not manage to qualify into Tokyo Olympics after losing to Lebanon’s Laetitia Aoun, 11-20 in the quarterfinals of the Women’s -57 kg class of the Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Lebanon.
This is not the first failed attempt for Lopez to get a Olympic berth as she also suffered a heartbreaking loss over a Thai foe in the Asian qualifiers held in Manila in 2016.
But despite the losses, Lopez, who celebrated her birthday today (August 17), will work hard and train at her very best for a chance to qualify in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“To have another shot at this (Olympics), will be the best version of myself when i have that the shot and earned it the way you should earn it.”, Pauline said in her interview with Master Joel Lacsamana on Taekwondo Matters podcast.
For now, Lopez is preparing for her mission to defend the gold in the Vietnam SEA Games, as well earning the top honors in the Asian Games, both scheduled this year, while seeking another chance of getting into the Olympics. Lopez is also eyeing to cap off her collegiate career with the Ateneo de Manila University where she will suit up in the UAAP Season 84 taekwondo competitions if pushes through next year.
Aside from this, Pauline is currently into online studies as she nears her final year in Ateneo.
During her interview, Pauline also shares her valuable lessons from the training bubble up to competing internationally for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. She also persoanlly thanked her supporters for their undying support.
“Actually the COVID-19 situation and having a year off really put a lot of things in perspective in my mind what truly matters, and going back into training, being in the bubble, the sacrifices (away from my family), and not only tell me a lot about my sport and what people could accomplish, but it taught me about myself as well. That saying once you getting knock down, are you gonna get back up, how do you handle the situation. And it definitely makes closer to God, very sad, if you trust in his plans, why are you worrying? If you gave your best, you should be proud of yourself.”, Lopez concluded.
