The 33-year-old taekwondo jin hopes she is leaving behind a good legacy.
It’s been 10 years since the last time Kirstie Elaine Alora won a gold medal in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
In the last three editions of the regional meet, she won three silvers. Nothing to be scoffed at, but they’re just not as shiny as gold. Giannis Antetokounmpo would definitely not call them failures. Still, the Filipina jin could use a payback or two in the women’s under-73 kg category.
Alora has one more reason to finish strong. She is 33, which is by no means young in the taekwondo realm or just sports in general. Heck, her teammates even call her “master”—which may mean reverence, but it may also imply an advancement in age.
“Sa mga trainings namin, pagod na ako, [mga teammates ko] ang lalakas pa ng stamina, naiiwan ako,” Alora told One Sports’ Miguel Dypiangco.
But no traces of decline manifested in Cambodia as Alora came out on fire against her Vietnamese foe Thi Huong Nguyen in the final, ultimately taking the gold medal.
“I’m overwhelmed and siyempre sobrang saya ko,” said Kirstie Elaine after the win.
She now looks forward to the next chapter of her life now that she has a total of four gold medals and four silvers in her entire SEA Games career.
“Maybe this is my last SEA Games. At least, good exit ako.”
The Biñan, Laguna native had to be extremely disciplined to reach this point. She hopes this only inspires her taekwondo teammates to keep getting better.
“Sana ma-inspire ko sila na kahit gaano katagal ka na sa team, kung gugustuhin mo pa rin maka-medal or maka-gold, at least nakita nila kung gaano ako nagpakahirap sa trainings,” said Alora.
Aside from Alora’s gold, the taekwondo team won three more gold medals on Saturday, courtesy of Kurt Barbosa (under-54 kg), Samuel Morrison (under-87 kg), and Arven Alcantara (68 kg).
It seems like they’ve been listening well.
(With reports from Miguel Dypiangco, One Sports)
(GM)