Dafydd Sanders on his way to bronze in the Australian Open. Photo / Nic Dorman
Dafydd Sanders on his way to bronze in the Australian Open. Photo / Nic Dorman
The mystery of how to qualify for the Olympics in taekwondo is a labyrinthine case, probably best placed in Sherlock Holmes' hands, but Dafydd Sanders is edging towards a solution in his fourth attempt.
The 30-year-old is New Zealand's top player with a world ranking of 12 in the 87kg division and an Olympic ranking of 35th when the divisions amalgamate into 80kg+.
He pursues events worldwide to increase his ranking points, investing money earned as an instructor as well as lending from the Bank of Mum and Dad. The last taxpayer money he received was $18,000 in 2014, courtesy of High Performance Sport New Zealand. His existence, by professional athlete standards, is hand-to-mouth using an Olympic dream as his compass.
It's Dafydd versus a Goliath of a system.
Last month, Sanders received welcome news. He was invited to the governing body's world series grand-prix 2 in Samsun, Turkey, on September 19. If he secures enough ranking points at that event, he could enter next month's world series grand-prix 3 in Manchester and, ultimately, December's grand-prix final in Mexico City.
That would tip the Olympic selection scales in his favour.
"It's made my year," Sanders says. "Everything I've done over the last two years has been to earn enough rankings points to work my way on to the top tier of the grand-prix circuit."
To keep things simple, he needs to be in the top six of the Olympic rankings by the end of the grand-prix final to guarantee New Zealand a Games spot in the 80kg+ division.
If he misses, Sanders must claim one of nine further spots by winning or coming second in one of five continental qualifiers (excluding Oceania). He also needs to prove, under the New Zealand Olympic Committee's selection criteria, he is capable of a top-16 finish. That criteria's a misnomer, given only 16 athletes comprise each division in Rio, so his performances over the next three months must prove he can keep beat other top contenders.
He has medalled eight times in world ranking G1 or G2 events in the past two years, including a bronze at the recent G2 Australian Open.
Sanders compares taekwondo with tennis when it comes to who-can-beat-who on a given day. However, New Zealand Olympic representatives in the sport are rare. There have been five since taekwondo debuted at the Games in 2000.
Sanders' dream has developed skills which would make him as useful as an intelligence officer, intrepid journey guide or Ph.D scholar in frugality.
Dafydd Sanders. Photo / Nic Dorman
This year, he's competed in Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Egypt, Greece, Korea, the Netherlands, Qatar, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Resourcefulness is mandatory because a number of tournaments are not advertised when he flies overseas.
"To get the best deals, I have to plan a year out but I have to be flexible. Events are sometimes confirmed only a month earlier, so I have to guess where they might be. I make sure I'm travelling to the right region and that way, I only have to make slight changes. I might base myself in France. Then, as tournaments started piling up, I start entering across Europe. I monitor Facebook and have got good at studying where my opponents go. When considering my ranking, I've got to make sure enough decent athletes go to the events I choose, otherwise I won't get the necessary points.
"You're often in a country alone. Sometimes they can be war-torn with roads falling apart and no English spoken. My aim has always been to make lots of friends on tour. That way you can share accommodation costs and I usually end up coaching them [for free] in return."
As a transient athlete, Sanders' lifestyle brings a degree of solitude, and that has come with a price. He outlined his bouts with depression to the New Zealand Herald in 2013, believing they were triggered by a loss over control of his destiny when he missed selection for the Athens Olympics. He became reclusive.
"I literally did nothing. I stayed in bed. I was fearful of leaving because I was fearful of failing. I still experience those feelings, but I've got better ways of coping."
Sanders credited mental health talisman Sir John Kirwan for helping him deal with his illness.
"His campaign was just coming out when I was suffering. It was awesome to see. I always looked up to him and that took a lot of courage. It was a powerful thing. It was like, 'If he can have success going through the same stuff I am, why can't I?'"
There are other motivations, too.
"Travelling the world, focusing on my passion and giving something back as a legacy to my students is also a coping method. I think about how an Olympic medal might affect the sport and inspire them. That gives me a sense of purpose."
Another challenge for Sanders is the Big Brother-effect. Other nations, where taekwondo is the New Zealand equivalent of a tier one Olympic sport like rowing, cycling or sailing, invest in analysts, athletes and coaches to counter his strategies.
"I'm my own statistician, coach and analyst but nations who have athletes in the top six of their divisions have teams dedicated to working that out. When I fought the world No1 [Uzbekistan's Jasur Baykuziyev] at the Australian Open, their whole team knew everything about me. But I'm happy to be at a level where people bother paying attention, rather than thinking, 'he'll be easy'. It also encourages me to evolve in my efforts to nullify them."
The road to Rio
How does the World Taekwondo Federation structure its Olympic qualification?
A maximum of eight athletes can qualify from each country. There are four divisions for each gender, comprising 16 athletes who qualify by: • Being in the top six of the international rankings by the end of the grand prix final in December. • Claiming one of nine spots by winning or coming second (excluding Oceania) in five continental qualifiers. • Being the best athlete from the host country (Brazil) or issuing a TPI (tri-partite partite invitation) to a country which otherwise would not attend.
