Cycling champ Amanda's just as happy in the rice paddy
THUMBING THROUGH THE photos of Thai-American Amanda Carr on her personal website and social networks, any stranger to her accomplishments might get the impression she's a one-woman Spice Girls - she looks by turns sporty, posh, baby, sometimes a little bi
Soopsip is not going to explain who the Spice Girls were to anyone “too young” to know. You can bloody well Google them. All that’s important to know is that Amanda won the gold medal for Thailand in the BMX bike event at the 17th Asian Games in South Korea just over a year ago.
But her Instagram and Facebook feeds provide quite a charming revelation even for admirers of her extreme-cycling abilities. We’re used to seeing pictures of Amanda in full-metal riding gear on the track – complete with a sleek helmet that wouldn’t look out of place in a “Star Wars” movie – or in training togs in the gym, presumably working on those thigh muscles.
But here she is – in a photo toting more than 20,000 “likes” and a thousand-plus shares – in farmer garb, harvesting rice.
Well, we did know that half of her roots are in the great Northeast – she “speaks Isaan” fluently. Her mum’s from Udon Thani. The old man’s a lawyer and US Air Force retiree and Amanda Mildred Carr was actually
born and schooled in the United States, in Punta Gorda, Florida. But she has that Udon urging for spicy food, along with the friendly smile and gentle manners typical of the region.
All these traits combined to make Amanda the “most talked-about sportswoman” earlier this year on Mthai, the news portal that gets 780,000 views per day.
A BMX enthusiast since age five, she graduated from high school with 17 varsity letters, more than anyone else had ever accomplished in four years, including letters in weightlifting, soccer, track-and-field, cross-country running, tennis, golf and softball. Somehow her two-wheeled ambitions still prevailed and, after training under USA Cycling for several years, Amanda decided to compete for Thailand in BMX.
For the moment, though, the biking body armour, helmet and knee pads have been set aside in favour of the most advanced uniform ever conceived for picking rice under the blazing Isaan sun – long-sleeved check shirt, sun hat and face covering. Amanda lets the hanky-mask flutter aside to beam at the camera under a hat that’s just as giddy with cartoon characters.
She looks like she’s having the time of her life helping the family harvest golden ears of rice in Nong Mek. “This time of the year is the happiest time for the rice farmers because the rice field is turning yellow,” she explains on Facebook. “Today I went harvesting rice with my family. It’s so much fun! For every plate of rice there is commitment and value behind it. Be grateful for what you have and be careful not to waste moments like this.”
It’s easy to recall Amanda proudly saying, in the wake of her Asian Games triumph, that her grandfather’s rice field always reminds her of the wonderful simplicity of life.
