Thai Athletes Live Up to Expectations but Not Mental Strength
Thailand lived up to expectations by finishing their Rio Games campaign with two gold, two silver and two bronze but still have room to improve, especially in terms of athletes’ psychological condition, as the sport extravaganza comes to a conclusion toda
The Kingdom, who had no gold to show from the London Games, redeemed their pride by winning two gold through Sopita Tanasan and Sukanya Srisurat in the women’s weightlifting 48kg and 58kg. Sukanya set the Games record of 110kg in the snatch (two better than the previous mark set in 2012 by China’s Li Xueying).
The weightlifting team, which obviously deserves a big thumbs up, also won a silver through Pimsiri Sirikaew in the women’s 58kg. That marked the first time that Thailand put two of their athletes on the same podium. Pimsiri also became the first Thai female to win back-to-back Olympic medals after winning a silver in the same category in London.
The last medal from the weightlifting team was a bronze by Sinphet Kruaithong in the men’s 56kg which made him the first Thai male weightlifter to win an Olympic medal.
Thailand’s other silver and bronze contribution came from the taekwondo team. Unfancied Tawin Hanprab turned a national hero overnight by winning the silver in the men’s 58kg after stunning world champion Kim Taehun of South Korea in the first round. Tawin also became the first Thai male ever to win an Olympic medal in taekwondo. Panipak Wongpattanakit won the bronze in the women’s 49kg.
Fifty-four athletes from 17 sports went to the Games but only those from weightlifting and taekwondo could achieve the target set by the Sports Authority of Thailand.
Thailand’s favourite sport boxing, however, yielded no medal for the first time in 40 years. But the boxing association and the boxers cannot be blamed entirely for the fiasco. The controversial judging system has put a big question mark about transparency within AIBA, which acknowledged that there, indeed, was a case and sent home a handful of judges for making questionable rulings in a few bouts that favoured boxers from certain countries.
Archers, table tennis players and shooters performed beyond their potential. Archer Witthaya Kamwong reached the round of 16 in the men’s individual, Nanthana Komwong achieved her Olympics best by booking a spot in the round of 32 while shooter Attapon Ue-aree became the first Thai to reach the final eight in the men’s rifle prone.
However, badminton, skeet and golf, produced no medal despite possessing some of the best in the world.
Former badminton world No 1 Ratchanok Intanon and current women’s skeet world No 1 Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit were nowhere near their best. Ratchanok was stopped at the round of 16 and Sutiya failed to make it to the final. They fell victims to their own psychological demons.
In fact, Thai athletes have been under-performing in big events such as the Olympics. It has become a perennial problem. No matter how successful they have been on the circuit, tours etc, these athletes become vulnerable on the mental side when it comes to representing the country in the Olympics. The intensity of the competition plus a load of pressure from countrymen, who have great expectations, prove too much for these star athletes to handle. Forget about the inexperienced ones. The Sports Authority of Thailand must take this aspect into serious consideration while planning for the 2020 Games.
In golf, Thailand sent a strong team of Thongchai Jaidee, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, world No 2 Ariya Jutanugarn and Pornanong Phatlum. While Kiradech could sign off at joint fifth in the men’s competition, Ariya had to retired with an injury after leading the first round. The injury deprived Thailand their last hope of a medal.
