Taekwondo Lesotho star Marumo Moloisane makes bright start to life in Germany

Moloisane has made a promising start to his quest for Tokyo 2020 qualification...

Lesotho taekwondo star Marumo Moloisane is looking forward to the future after winning bronze at last month’s 2018 Austrian Open Tournament.

Moloisane, who is based in Germany, finished third in the 58 kilogram competition at the championships held in Innsbruck, Austria to jump-start his dreams of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The 24 years old Khubetsoana born fighter is, of course, part of the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme which assists elite athletes selected by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in their preparations and qualification for Olympic Games.

Moloisane was one of six athletes chosen by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) last year to prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Thanks to the scholarship, he is training at the renowned TCC Friedrichshafen High-Performance Training Centre in Germany and will be based there until 2020.

Olympic athletes Mosito Lehata and Tšepang Sello are also part of the Olympic Solidarity programme and are based at the University of the Free State Sports Science Institute (FSSSI) where they are rubbing shoulders with South African star Wade van Niekerk who is the world 400 metres champion.

The other athletes in the programme are Lerato Sechele (athletics), Moroke Mokhotho (boxing) and Tumelo Makae (cycling) although all three are under domestic placement and are training in Lesotho.

Moloisane at the TCC Centre in Germany

Moloisane’s success comes months after he started his Germany camp in December and it is a promising sign.

He narrowly missed the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil and expressed determination to avoid the same fate in 2020.

Moloisane said being based abroad will help.

“Being outside the country helps me compete regularly against players from different countries so there is no doubt that my international exposure will grow,” Moloisane said.

“Germany is a great place for my career because it produces the best taekwondo athletes,” he added. “Training outside the country is also preferable because when you are at home (in Lesotho) it is not easy to attend (international) tournaments.”

Also important: competing at international events such as the Austrian Open Tournament will boost Moloisane’s ranking points.

Those points will come in handy when World Taekwondo makes its final cut in 2020 for the 60 male fighters that will qualify for the taekwondo tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.