Michelle Tau is setting her sights on an Olympic podium in the women's taekwondo -49kg in her maiden appearance on Wednesday.
Tau carved out a legacy as the first taekwondo representative from Lesotho to qualify for the Olympics in 20 years.
The 27-year-old terms Taekwondo as a family sport as she aims to follow in the footsteps of her father, John Tau, a national taekwondo legend, passed away when she was young.
The former beauty queen is optimistic of securing an Olympic medal following months of intense training.
“It has not been easy to get to the Olympics. It requires a lot of sacrifices, but with determination, dedication, prayer, and good support, everything is possible,” Tau noted.
Tau qualified for the quadrennial showpiece by winning her bout in the Under 49kg category at the African qualifying tournament held in Dakar, Senegal, in February.
After qualification, her training in the build up to the Paris Games has been significantly supported by Mchezo, a Rwanda-based company.
They have partnered with the Lesotho government to help Tau train at top taekwondo centers in Germany and Spain.
Tau was in high praise of the organization for stepping in to aid her preparations for ghe global showpiece.
Her coach, Hugo Tortosa, one of the youngest coaches at the Olympics at just 24, described her training as “very specific work.”
“In taekwondo, you can only think about the first opponent because if you do not pass that round, you cannot compete further,” Tortosa added.
Mchezo managing director Ntoudi Mouyelo expressed his pride in Tau.
“From the moment we first met her, we at Mchezo have never doubted her drive to excel. She is a cut above the rest, the kind of sports personality anyone can enjoy working with,” Mouyelo said.
