Taekwondo: Wihongi faces eye of Storm

By MARK GEENTY

The dairy farmer from Balclutha will walk into the eye of the Blonde Storm as Virena Wihongi's Olympics finally begin today.

New Zealand's sole taekwondo exponent in Athens, Wihongi will have her first-round bout at 6.36pm against Greek Elisavet Mystakidou, the local hope who won bronze at last year's world championships in Germany. Dubbed the Blonde Storm by local media, Mystakidou promises to be a tough first opponent in the women's under-67kg field of 16.

One small mercy for Wihongi, 26, who doesn't have a world ranking after missing last year's world championships, is she avoided the top fighters from China, Korea and Norway for her first round.

Kaikohe-born Wihongi, a third degree black belt, qualified for Athens in February by winning the Asian Games welterweight title in Bangkok.

That was while helping manage a dairy herd in Balclutha with her partner, Ngatai Hurkmans, a first degree black belt who has proved a more than useful training partner.

"He is the reason, with his encouragement and his belief, that I've got this far," she said.

Wihongi created history by becoming New Zealand's first official Olympic taekwondo representative, after Susan Graham lined up in Barcelona in 1992 to win silver when it was a demonstration sport.

Wihongi missed qualifying for Sydney four years ago when injury ruled her out of trials.

In New Zealand she is unbeaten at national championships in the past decade, having received her early guidance from a former Korean world champion.

- NZPA