Love At First Kick

148

Day 5

Imanu and Jimin. Again.

She was a lot better today. She was not the nervous wreck she was the other day.

And Jimin... he looked like he had 15 energy drinks. He was so hyper and excited. We got to have our minute before he went on, so he was more than happy.

Today, they are both fighting for a medal.

We watched both of them stand in the little warm-up area by the courts, waiting for their fights. Imanu was on first today.

She looked confident walking up there, even smiling a bit.

'These games are gettin ridiculous. Look at that.' Wonhu points to the opposite site of the arena that is now filled to the brim with people.

He is right. Each day, there are more and more people coming to watch, and more cameras are set up everywhere.

I knew taekwondo was a well-known sport, but I didn't think all these people would come to watch. It warms my heart.

'I guess it makes sense. The fights are getting more interesting. It's mostly medal fights from yesterday onwards.'

'Let's see if this crackhead can win.' Wonhu chuckles, gesturing at Imanu

She started off well...ish. She wasn't as ferocious as she was last fight. She was still good, but the opponent took lead by the end of the first round.

'Maybe she is more nervous than we thought. She's not doing so well.' Hinhyuk comments

We figured it might be the jitters, and she would pull back in the second round, but it only got worse somehow. She was losing by 4 points, which is not a lot, but these are not free hits.

'Come on, Imanu. Pull yourself together.'  Sool mumbled as she got almost kicked in the face

Round 3, she actually pulled back and tied it by some miracle.

They ended up going through to the golden point. All of us felt as if though we were on needles. We were anticipating and hoping.

Unfortunately, the golden point round didn't end so well for her. She lost the fight, and with it, the medal.

'Damn. She even got back up there in the end. I'd be pissed off if I were her.' Sool says

'I still wonder what happened in those first two rounds.' I add. Those two rounds looked more like she came to train lightly than to fight

We watched her get down those stairs, and Jimin patted her on the back.

She dropped all of her equipment on the floor, sitting next to it with her face in her hands. Probably out of frustration. We can only assume she's crying as her back is turned to us because Jimin is crouching next to her, rubbing her back.

She hadn't moved an inch until Jimin's fight came along a few fights later. That's when she looked up. She was still sitting down, but she was watching him get in the court.

'Jakov Punićkhi. 28. Ukraine. -63 kg. Red corner.'

'Jimin Park. 25. South Korea. -63 kg. Blue corner.'

The guy is soooo much taller than Jimin. Even from here, you can see the massive  difference.

'What have they been feeding that guy?!'  Even Hinhyuk is surprised

'It's okay. He's got this.' I grin

'Have you ever doubted him? Even just once?' Wonhu asks me, sounding curious