PARIS, France (Aug. 9, 2023) - Say farewell, ladies and gentlemen: A legend is leaving the house.
After winning gold in the W-49kg on Day 1 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Taekwondo Competition, Thai super fighter Panipak Wongpattanakit told a press conference that she was hanging up her black belt.
The Thai – who celebrated her 27th birthday the day after her win – has cut an extraordinary swathe through the game.
Paris 2024 marked her second Olympic gold after Tokyo 2020, on top of a bronze in Rio 2016. In addition, she holds a joint record – with Korean fighter Daehoon Lee – of 12 Grand Prix golds. Those achievements engrave her name into Taekwondo history.
Now, it’s “Job done, game over.”
When it comes to the game, few fighters are so emotionally invested. That was clear before her final. “This was the last time for me,” she said. “I was crying.”
Just before descending the Grand Palais staircase and marching up onto the field of play, she phoned Thailand. “I called my psychologist,” she recalled. “And she told me: “Let’s enjoy the last dance!’”
The “last dance” was with a tough partner. Her opponent, Qing Guo is a rising star in one of Taekwondo’s top squads, Team China.
“She has high kicks, she has punches and she is very good at kicking in the close fight – she is dangerous!” said Wongpattanakit. “My plan was to keep the distance and fight the long fight.”
Round 1. Guo opened the scoring with a high kick, but the Thai found her range and struck back twice, taking the round, 6-3. In the second, Guo played a cagey, hard-to-hit game. A last-second IVR from Wongpattanakit was rejected, giving Guo Round 2. Round 3 was the decider but with 30 seconds remaining, the score was stuck at 0-0. Tension climbed. The Thai kicked high. IVR. The closeness of her kick to Guo’s head on the replay screen drew gasps from the crowd. Awarded! Twenty-five seconds left. Another Thai high kick! Another IVR! Another win! Guo surged forward as the seconds counted down, but could not catch up. It ended 6-2, granting Wongpattanakit her last victory and her second Olympic gold.
The crowd exploded. Overcome by the moment, the Thai fell to her knees, weeping.
Two days later, the Thai reflected on it all.
The Grand Palais venue made Paris 2024 “the most beautiful competition in my life,” she said. The fandom turned up, en masse.
“All the fans came to see me, they were all shouting, ‘Panipak!’” she said. “There were so many Thai flags I thought I was competing in Thailand!”
The competition was fought on Aug. 7. Aug. 8 was Wongpattanakit’s 27th birthday.
“After the match, the fans sang Happy Birthday to me,” she said. “It gave me a warm heart.”
Given that she is at the pinnacle of the game, why is she retiring?
Speaking to journalists after the match, she made clear the sacrifices elite-level players in a demanding contact sport make: She has had PCL surgery on one knee, and also has issues with hips and ankles.
Though her coach urged her to win one more Grand Prix in order to beat 12-gold Lee’s record, he relented. “We talked before Paris, and he agreed [on my retirement],” she revealed.
Wongpattanakit has long followed an extreme training regime, which starts before breakfast. And she routinely trains with men. “That made me stronger and faster,” she said.
Her tall, leggy physique – she specializes in high kicks – is ideal for long-range Taekwondo, but she admits to pre-fight nerves.
“Before a fight, my heart beats faster, so I do breathing exercises before I go on,” she said. “And I stop all social media!”
Though Wongpattanakit is retiring from competition, she is not retiring from Taekwondo.
Her new focus is on expanding Thailand’s talent pipeline. She and her partner operate two gyms in Bangkok, teaching both grassroots and elite Taekwondo.
Taekwondo has been good to the Thai - and not just in terms of her haul of precious metal. It also gave her health.
“I had asthma when I was little, and when I ate seafood, I got a rash,” she said. “My father made me play sport, so now I can eat seafood. I really like it!”
Sport runs through the Wongpattanakit family. Her parents nicknamed her sister “Bowling,” her brother “Baseball” and her “Tennis.”
“My father likes tennis, and I play,” she admitted. “But I am no good!”
Fate came knocking when the youthful Wongpattanakit saw her brother practicing Taekwondo. She was drawn to both the uniform and the action...and the rest is history.
That history will endure. For those who might want to repeat it, she has some advice. Her personal motto is “Difficult is not impossible.”
