Taiwanese taekwondo athlete Yang Shu-chun (楊淑君) said yesterday her controversial disqualification at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, was like a bad dream, adding that she was still too agitated to make any concrete plans for the future.
Asked whether she would compete in the 2012 London Olympics, Yang told reporters in her hometown in Yingge Township (鶯歌), Taipei County, that she needed time because she was not yet calm enough to think things through.
The 25-year-old athlete was disqualified in her opening match at the Asian Games over allegations she had two extra electronic sensors attached to her socks. At the time, she was leading her Vietnamese opponent 9-0 in the women’s under-49kg taekwondo event.
“I had prepared for so long and the match ended so abruptly — it was like a bad dream,” said Yang, who returned to Taiwan on Monday night to a hero’s welcome.
After she was disqualified, Yang said, she kept telling herself to be strong, but she said the feeling of being wronged remains, adding that she gets angry whenever she reads news reports about the incident.
Yang said she had given some consideration to teaching at a university, if possible, but was really not sure about her plans.
“Just marry me,” her coach and boyfriend Liu Tsung-ta (劉聰達) said half-jokingly in the interview yesterday.
“Don’t talk nonsense. My parents are inside [the house],” Yang responded with a shy smile.
Liu said he had planned to propose to Yang after the Asian Games and joked that if she decided to participate in the London Olympics, it would affect their marriage timetable.
However, he will respect whatever decision Yang makes, he added.
Yang’s controversial disqualification from the Asian Games has sparked anger throughout Taiwan, more so after the release of video footage that showed that the referee may have made a wrong call.
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