Ready to Rumble

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ut with the rest of the world increasingly embracing the sport, Korea's Taekwondo fighters can no longer afford to be complacent. China's Wei Luo, who swept to a convincing gold in the 2003 world championships, looks likely to beat South Korean Hwang Kyung Sun in the 67-kg women's event, while Taiwan's Chu Mu Yen and Chen Chih Hsin are both strong gold-medal contenders. "In the case of Europeans and some Asian athletes, there is no skill difference compared with us," South Korean Taekwondo coach Kim Sae Hyeock told the JoongAng Daily. "It's just a matter of who trains better and more."

BOXING Featherweight boxer Somluck Khamsing became a national hero after winning Thailand's first-ever gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games. As a reward, his adoring country even paid him a $1.6 million bonus. But Somluck's mercurial training habits caught up with him, and he was easily defeated in the Sydney quarterfinals. The former champ has made ends meet in recent years by hosting a TV game show, opening a BBQ restaurant and recording a hit album with two fellow fighters called Three Boxers Become Singers. Now, however, the 31-year-old is making his comeback after two years out of the ring.

Though few pugilistic pundits give Somluck a realistic chance in Athens (he was almost bounced from the team recently for missing training sessions), his teammate Somjit Jongjohor could well become Thailand's third-ever gold medalist. Somjit, the 2003 world amateur flyweight champion, is a slick boxer with a talent for weaving out of trouble and counterpunching his way to victory. But even if he stumbles in Athens, Somjit has a backup career—like Somluck, he's recorded his own album.

WOMEN'S WRESTLING The women who take to the mat in Athens won't just be battling for gold, silver and bronze—they'll be fighting for respect. That's a struggle Japan's top female wrestler, Kyoko Hamaguchi, understands well. As the daughter of popular 1970s pro wrestler Heigo (Animal) Hamaguchi, who today helps coach her, Kyoko Hamaguchi was expected to be a champion on bloodline alone. Her father never tried to make things easy on her. "I have been coaching my daughter since she was 13 and made her cry many times," he says. Determined to live up to his heady expectations, she worked harder than anyone. "The volume of her training is enormous," says sportswriter Toshiya Miyazaki, who has authored a book on the younger Hamaguchi's career. "If other wrestlers do something three times, she will do it five times." That drive has helped earn her five world championships, the first at age 19.

One indication of how popular Hamaguchi has become in Japan is that she has been given the honor of carrying the country's flag at the opening ceremony in Athens. Though other Japanese wrestlers Saori Yoshida (who has never lost an international competition) and sisters Chiharu and Kaori Icho are all expected to bring home gold, most Japanese eyes will remain on Hamaguchi. Her main rival will be American heavyweight Toccara Montgomery, who handed Hamaguchi a rare defeat in their last meeting. Hamaguchi claims to be keeping things in perspective. "I am the strongest I have ever been in my wrestling life, just in time for the Athens Olympics," she says. "But whether I win or lose, I am still the same person." True enough—but her opponents in Athens are likely to find her in a decidedly less philosophical mood.