WANCHAI RUJAWONGSANTI
Four years ago, taekwondo exponent Yaowapa Burapolchai won a bronze medal in the women's 49kg division to become Thailand's first-ever Olympic medallist in the sport.
Thanks to the feat and probably her charm, "View" became more popular than the country's other medallists in Athens.
Four years on, Buttree Puedpong went a step further than Yaowapa when she claimed silver in the same weight class to become the country's most successful taekwondo exponent.
Buttree has been Thailand's fastest rising star over the past few years. She burst into the international scene when she won at the World Junior Championships in Vietnam in 2006.
Despite the success, few believed she would represent Thailand at the Beijing Games as there were several fighters who seemed better than her at that time including Yaowapa.
When Yaowapa suffered a chronic injury, Mae-num Chirdkiatisak was seen as her heir apparent. Mae-num lived up to the billing by winning a ticket to Beijing in the women's 49kg division.
However, in taekwondo, the country of the athlete who secures an Olympic berth has the final say in sending anyone to compete in the Games proper.
It was probably fate that opened the door for Buttree to seek glory. Initially, Yaowapa was seen as favourite to make her second Olympic appearance. But she finally succumbed to the injury and anounced her retirement earlier this year.
That left only Mae-num and Buttree to vie for the right to go to Beijing. Buttree then beat Mae-num in an elimination bout to decide Thailand's representative in the 49kg division.
Nicknamed "Song" (two or second), Buttree could become a new darling of Thai sports. She is young and has an attractive personality, although she is not as talkative as Yaowapa.
Buttree can comfortably deal with the media. But the problem is she still talks like a child. Indeed, at 17, she is still a child and a high school student.
"What will you do with the bonus you are going to get?" asked a Thai journalist after she was defeated by China's Wu Jingyu in the final.
"I will buy a house for my parents," she replied.
"How big will be the new house?" "I don't know. I have to ask my parents," she said.
"Buy a new house or build a new house on your family's land?"
"I don't know. I have to ask my parents," she said.
"What do you want for yourself?" asked another journalist.
"Nothing. Er ... I don't know," she replied.
"What is your next goal? Do you want to do better in London?"
"Er ... I don't know," she said.
Buttree's success should push the popularity of Korea's martial art to a new height in Thailand.
"Nong View" will soon be forgotten and be replaced by "Nong Song", a Matthayom 6 student at Mahapruettharam school.
It was a pity that Chutchawal Khaolaor, who had been tipped as Thailand's best hope in taekwondo, failed to win a medal in the men's 58kg division after losing in a bronze medal bout.
Understandably, Chutchawal refused to talk to the media and wept in the dressing room for a long time after the setback which deprived him of millions of baht in bonus.
Chonnapas Premwaew failed at the first hurdle in the women's 57kg division yesterday leaving Buttree Thailand's only medallist in taekwondo in Beijing.
Noticeably, the judging in Beijing has been fair. This is probably because concerned parties have tried to make it a "clean" sport for fear that it could be dropped from the Olympics.
A couple of years ago, taekwondo surprisingly survived the axe when members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to cut two sports from the Olympics at the expense of baseball and softball which will not be sports in the 2012 Games.
With fair judging in Beijing, taekwondo should get a vote of confidence again when ICO members meet next year to axe two sports to open way for two others.
The survival of the sport is vital to Thailand's medal hunt in the Olympics. Thailand has now won two taekwondo medals in its only two Olympic appearances. Hopefully, it will bring the country its first gold medal in the sport in London.
