The aim of this participation was to prepare on a high level, towards the qualifying competition in Peru for the PANAM 2011 Games.

Lianne Muller

This day was Lianne’s day to compete. With about 31 athletes in the bantam division she had to win 5 times to get the gold medal. The first round she got a “bye “, which means she won her first fight without having to fight.  Her first fight was against USA. The first round she scored 1 point with a round kick. The second round she did not score, but received 2 “kiongo’s “(deduction points) which produced 1 point for the USA. Round 3 ended with a score of 1-1. They had to go the 4th round. This round is called Sudden Death or Golden Point round. Who ever scores the first point, wins the match.

Lianne scored the first point with a round kick to the chest protector and won the match. She was coached by Julio Cesar from Argentina, her trainer in Mexico.

She received multiple injuries on her legs and thighs and admitted she was not feeling well during the fight. She got ill during her trainingscamp in Monterrey and did not fully recover. She had fever, headache, was coughing a lot and blood came through her mouth when she was in Mexico. This was also clearly seen in the way she fought; she did not have much strength. She was coughing during the fight and this prevented her from fighting at her best.

The second fight was against Mexico. This fighter is in the Mexican National Team. Lianne scored the first point. The second round was with a lot of action, were Lianne scored for more points. Her opponent was attacking furiously but could not score. Lianne got 2 kiongo’s . Round two ended 5-1 in favour of Lianne. In the third round, Lianne was out of breath. She was coughing during the fight due to not being fully recovered. Here she received a few more kiongo’s for grabbing and falling. The score was 3-5 still in favour of Lianne. But just 5 seconds remaining, her opponent lifted her leg to the head and the referees scored it. The fight ended 5-6 in favour of Mexico.  She was coached by her brother Audy Muller

She finished finally 4th.

Audy Muller

Audy’s weight category is – 58 kg. This division is new to him and he had to get used to it. He was coached by Julio Cesar all his 3 matches. There were 31 fighters in this pool.

First fight was against USA. USA scored the first point with a punch to the chest. Audy scored back immediately with a round kick to the chest. The fight had a lot of action. USA was constantly attacking, after receiving an axe kick to the head by Audy. This produced 3 points for Audy. USA mainly attacked and Audy mainly countered. USA never gave up and was fighting till the very end, but could only score 2 points. The fight ended 2-6 in favour of Audy. Nevertheless it was not an easy fight. Had Audy gotten comfortable he could have lost the fight.

Second fight was against Mexico. This opponent was also from the national team. Both fighters were fighting with a lot of spirit. Neither one of them backed off. Audy was very focused and managed to score 3 points. The opponent was good too and also scored 3 points.

Round 3 ended with score of 3-3 and they had to go to round 4. In round four Audy scored the first point with a back kick to the chest. He won his second fight.

Third and most difficult fight. This time it was time to face the Brazilian Marcio Perreira. A world known athlete. Pan AM champion 2010 , Military World Champion 2010, World Champion , Olympics 2008 4th finisher and 4th in Taekwondo world ranking 2010 just to name a few of his accomplishments. So it was winner of the Pan AM 2010 (- 58 kg) against winner of the Pan AM 2008 (- 54 kg).

In the first round both fighters showed a lot of respect towards each other. They used round 1 to study each other. Marcio scored the first point with a round kick. The second round had more action with both fighters trying to score. Neither one backed off. Marcio attacked furiously to the head, but Audy dashed his kicks, trying to score too. He could not score, but showed attitude and fighting spirit trough out the match. Marcio was very fast and managed to kick Audy to the head. This produced 3 points for the Brazilian athlete. Audy attacked with different kicks and jumping kicks but did not score. Fight 3 ended with a score of 6-1 in favour of Brazil.

Had Audy won this fight, he would have received a bronze medal. He finished fourth. Marcio fought twice after that and won the gold medal in this division.

Richenel Eleonora (masseur) and Dayen Muller (team leader) supported both our athletes.

Audy  and Lianne are now back home in Curacao and are preparing for the qualification for the PanAmerican Games.

He is a potential candidate for a medal in the next Pan-American Games 2011 (Mexico). The Antillean Federation approached NAOC for financial support, in order to have Audy together with his coach Richard Hanson represent the Netherlands Antilles.

Seeing the fact that Taekwondo is an Olympic Sport, it was possible for NAOC to cover the expenses regarding to the air flight. Audy participates in the Fin (-54kg) weight on Saturday and starts against Sweden

Picture: Audy Muller, NAOC  President Millerson & Coach Richard Hanson

“There are millions of young golfers worldwide who would be proud to represent their country,” Woods said from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. “It would be an honor for anyone who plays this game to become an Olympian.”

Golf was approved 63-27 with two abstentions. Rugby was voted in 81-8 with one abstention.

Golf will stage a 72-hole stroke-play tournament for men and women, with 60 players in each field. Padraig Harrington and Michelle Wie addressed the IOC in person before the vote. Wie talked about starting to play golf when she was 4 but never being able to dream of an Olympic medal until now.

“I can dream about doing something that neither Tiger nor Ernie (Els) have ever done, and that is to make the final putt to win an Olympic gold medal,” Wie said. “If this dream comes true, somewhere in the world there will be another 4-year-old who sees me on that podium and perhaps starts her own Olympic dream.”

Golf gave a commitment to the IOC that it would not stage any major championships on the Olympic dates. They are the first new sports added since triathlon and taekwondo joined the program for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The vote was a reversal of the IOC’s decision four years ago to reject golf and rugby for the 2012 Olympics, and brings the number of summer Olympic sports back to 28. There have been two openings on the program since baseball and softball were dropped in 2005 for the 2012 London Games.

Their status for the 2020 Olympics will be reviewed by the IOC in 2017.

The selection process angered some IOC members, who wanted all seven sports put to a vote by the entire assembly. Senior Canadian member Dick Pound complained before the vote that the members were never told why the two sports were selected over the other five. “It is not fair to the other five sports,” Pound said. “Because you decided the way you did, it is not a transparent process.”

The new selection system was put in place after the IOC failed to agree on which two sports should be added to the 2012 program, leaving the London Games with 26 sports instead of the usual 28.

Five of the participating boys are from Curacao and one from St. Maarten. The 3 girls that are already selected are from Curacao. According to Coach Cedric Meulens, preparations for the selections were started at an early date, but at the last moments the other countries decided that they wanted six girls to compete, instead of the 3 that had been decided upon.

Meulens is now investigating if the different taekwondo schools in the Antilles can provide in 3 female fighters to join the selection. But he is very happy with the selection as it is. The youngsters had already prepared themselves to participate in the Panam Games when they heard that Taekwondo was going to be one of 7 sports that the partners in the kingdom will be competing in.

The group is now training about 12 hours per week. Technical and tactical issues, resistance, speed and psychological strength are important. But the group is also trained in dietary habits, behavior and spiritual strength.

In the weeks before the Kingdom games, the Taekwondo selection participates in tournaments in Surinam, Trinidad, Aruba and Cuba. This for the benefit of the youngsters who need all the international experience that they can get.

The Taekwondo selection is going for gold in Aruba: ‘We would not
be making all these efforts, without coming home with all the gold
medals’.