19/09/2012
SAMOA OBSERVER
THURSDAY, 23 AUGUST 2012
Kaino Thomsen Fuataga has returned to Samoa after having a taste of competing with the Best of the Best in the World in Taekwondo in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Kaino went down 9-2 in his first fight against Anthony Obame of Gabon and since Obame went on to fight in the Heavyweight Final, Kaino was given a second chance to medal for the Bronze against Robelis Despaigne of Cuba.
Unfortunately Kaino was unsuccessful against the Cuban and went down 14-2 in the Bronze medal semi final. After this competition, Kaino’s placing in the WTF World rankings has improved from 16th in the World to "7th" in the World because he made it to the Bronze medal semi-final at the Olympics.
Master Gergely Salim, Kaino’s coach was happy with Kaino’s performance being his first Olympic Games and he says he is sure Kaino will now be more prepared for the next Olympics in Rio De Jenero Brazil in 2016 having had this experience and he will only be 25 years old so still a good age for this competition.
Before the next Olympics though, Kaino will work more on his tactics in dealing with his taller opponents as he already has the fitness, strength and intellect to get him a medal but because Kaino is one of the youngest and shortest in his weight division (5ft 11in) while his opponents stand 6ft and over, and in view of the new rulings on headkicks which has changed from being a full-impact kick to just a touch on the head-gear for safety reasons, this has a great affect on how Kaino should approach his taller opponents.
The electronic chest guards being used is also significant in his training, so the more World Championships Kaino attends, the better his skills and performance will be.
The list to the side shows the calibre and qualifications of the top 7 in the World including Samoa’s Kaino Thomsen- Fuataga.
OLYMPICS 2012 MEDAL RESULTS – Male over 80kg Weight Class
1-Italy -Gold Medal - Carlo MOLFETTA (28yrs)
Gold Medal at 2000 WTF Junior World Championships
Silver medal at 2001 WTF World Championships
Silver medal at 2009 WTF World Championships
Bronze medal at 2011 WTF World Championships
2-Gabon – Silver Medal- Anthony OBAME (24yrs)
Gold medal at 2011 Pan African Games
3-China – Bronze Medal Xiao Bo LIU (28yrs)
Gold medal at 2008 Asian Championships
Silver medal at 2012 Asian Championships First Chinese male athlete to participate in Olympic Games through Qualification Tournament
3-Cuba – Bronze Medal - Robelis DESPAIGNE (24yrs)
Gold medal at 2010 Student World Championships
Bronze medal at 2011 Shenzhen Universiade
Gold medal at Pan American qualification for 2012 London Olympic’s
Bronze medal at 2012 Student World Championships
5-Turkey Bahri TANRIKULU (32yrs) Gold medal at 2007 WTF World Championships
Silver medal at 2008 European Championships
Gold medal at 2009 WTF World Championships
5-Mali Daba Modibo KEITA (31yrs)
2 times World Champion Gold medal at 2007 WTF World Championships
Gold medal at 2009 WTF World Championships Bronze medal at African qualification for 2012 London Olympic’s
7-Samoa Kaino THOMSEN FUATAGA (21yrs) Gold medal at Oceania qualification for 2012 London Olympic’s
Gold medal at South Pacific Games 2012
First Samoan athlete to participate in Olympic Games in Taekwondo through Oceania Qualification Tournament
7- Tajikistan Alisher GULOV (23yrs) Silver medal at 2010 Asian Championships Silver medal at Asian qualification for 2012 London Olympic Games
