PHOTOS| Taekwondo: Olympic medallist adjusts to training in living room
Egypt’s Olympic bronze medallist Hedaya Malak says she imagines her living room is a taekwondo hall as she tries to adjust to training from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and keep in shape for her third Games. The 27-year-old, who finished third in the -57kg category at the Rio Olympics four years ago, has already qualified for the Tokyo Games, which were postponed for a year to 2021 in March. Since the new coronavirus outbreak her training partners at her Cairo apartment are her brother -- who also practises taekwondo -- and a human-shaped kicking pad donated by a sponsor. “Most of it is mental because you have to challenge yourself and push yourself to keep on training every day, which is not so easy when you’re at home and everybody’s watching TV or studying, or playing around the house,” she said. “So it’s challenging. But at the same time you know that everybody around the world is in the same situation. “I try to imagine that this is my taekwondo hall, and this is where I am training and this is where I find my athletes and my friends, my team mates, as if they’re training with me.” Malak said she was shocked when she heard the Games had been postponed for a year, but is using the time to recover from injuries and study other athletes by watching videos.
Hedaya Malak Wahba, Egyptian Taekwondo practitioner and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, works out at her home as she trains for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt June 4, 2020. Picture taken June 4, 2020. (REUTERS)
Hedaya Malak Wahba, Egyptian Taekwondo practitioner poses for a photograph with her 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medal and trophies at her home as she trains for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt June 4, 2020. Picture taken June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (REUTERS)
Hedaya Malak Wahba, Egyptian Taekwondo practitioner and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, works out at her home as she trains for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt June 4, 2020. Picture taken June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (REUTERS)
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Hedaya Malak Wahba, Egyptian Taekwondo practitioner and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist, works out at her home as she trains for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt June 4, 2020. Picture taken June 4, 2020. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (REUTERS)
