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What is your form like at the moment?
Caroline: My form is pretty good. I recovered from an ACL injury and it’s now been over 18 months post-op. I actually feel stronger than before I did my knee. I don’t know if that’s purely through the rehab, but I’ve been really strong and haven’t had any injuries since. I’m very flexible and in a completely different headspace after the break and having some time to reflect. You have to make the most of what you have when you’re back in the sport. I’m back in the game.
Have you looked to London yet? What are your potential opponents like?
Carmen: In the 67kg class for London, there is actually a talented girl from Great Britain, Sara Stevenson. She won the last world championships only a few months ago, as well as the European championship – so Great Britain will be strong. They have a lot of support as Great Britain has an unlimited budget for these games. And it will be great for her to be in front of her home country. And she’s hardworking and definitely deserves it all. Also Korea, China and Germany — there’s quite a mix. Those sides have been very consistent internationally over the past few years and there are some fighters I really have to fire up against. But everyone is beatable.
Carmen, are you confident in bettering your quarter-final finish at Beijing?
Carmen: Definitely. I’ll be doing my best to ensure that that’s the case. But, you know, we have to see what can happen. I believe that this preparation is very different to my lead-up to Beijing. I’m more focused and I’m hungrier. I’m willing to do whatever it takes — tenfold over. I’m making sure I’m really fired up; I want to make it all the way to the gold medal match. I definitely think from four years ago, I’ve learnt so much more as a fighter, and changed slightly how I approach the fight. I’ve become more aware of my mental state, my fighting state. I know what I really do need to prepare. As an athlete, as you mature, you learn about yourself — what works and what doesn’t necessarily work for you. It’s a never-ending process. But it becomes clearer. And with that clarity I can be more consistent with my performances — hopefully all the way to London.
What does it mean to compete with your sister on the team?
Carmen: It’s an amazing accomplishment for us. If both of us could medal, it would be a really positive step forward in the campaign for the London Olympics. It would also mean we would qualify at that weight category for Australia. If we could achieve that, it would definitely be something we’re really proud of.
Caroline: I’m very fortunate to be able to have Carmen with me. I guess it’s because she knows me very well. If I’m a little bit nervous, she knows when to back off when I don’t want anyone near me. But she also knows when to say wake up and focus — and it’s a blessing. I couldn’t ask for a better teammate. Having my sister and Ali Khalil as our coach. I’m very, very lucky.
Is the approach any different?
Carmen: It’s definitely different. We’re pretty much training partners here. Whereas before Beijing — I was at AIS — it was a completely different environment than here at the Melbourne Taekwondo Centre. I think this time around, based at my home club there’s a lot more support. My sister and I are feeding off each other. She’s really pushing me in the class. My brother as well, he trains too. I’m really hungry and we’re feeding off each other’s determination.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the two of you? Are there any similarities?
Caroline: Uh, no. (Laughs) None whatsoever. It firstly comes down to our weight categories. She sits at the bottom of her weight division, and fights much taller girls. They play a very tactical game, whereas I sit on the top of my weight category — which is the second lightest. Our game is more about speed and power — there’s still tactics, but our game is a lot more explosive. The only similarities are that all the girls are going for the head, it just depends what kick. We’re headhunting; they’re headhunting; we’re headhunting. Carmen’s division has a lot more strength as well. And I’m a lot lighter and faster. And that goes for the girls in my division as well. The girls under 57kg are a lot skinnier and shorter; the girls over 57kg are a lot stronger and taller.
Carmen: We’re both definitely hardworking. In terms of styles, Caroline has a lot more skill than I do. She’s actually, definitely at this point in time, the strongest female. Especially in terms of all really hard techniques that you can [learn] overseas – all the turning kicks and the jumping kicks. Maybe my stronger points are my tactics. She’s got a lot of skill. I focus on tactics — like my head-kicks. We are very different, but the same in our ambition to work hard and train hard. We want to be good athletes.
You’ve both said your father has been a mentor in the past? What kind of role has he had on your careers?
Caroline: Maybe he pushed us when we didn’t want to do it when we were younger. I guess there are times when you’re a teenager and you say: ‘Oh, I don’t want to do it. It’s too hard.’ You want to go out partying with your friends. But having a dad involved with the sport, he saw the big picture. In terms of where I am today and how I got here, I can only credit the team around me. Sports science, my sports science team and the people involved, my coaches. Also, my sports psychologist and mentors; there’s a big team around us that pushed us.
Carmen: Both parents have been a big influence. They’re hardworking and supportive – my mother included. They’ve all told me to work hard for my dreams. They’re supportive and encouraging, consistently inspiring me to train harder and try more difficult kicks. My coaches at Melbourne Taekwondo Centre, such as Grandmaster Jack Rozinszky, they’ve been the driving force. Encouraging me to achieve my dreams. Positive role models are important. Willing to help you in any way they can. It’s an amazing environment. Even the strength and conditioning coaches from the Collingwood Fitness Centre. They have given myself and my two siblings a scholarship for over 10 years. All our coaches are always willing to help you out. They’re always there on the bad days and provide a shoulder to cry on. They’re there to pick us up and encourage us, and congratulate us with open arms.
When did you start in the sport and when did you start competing?
Carmen: I started training at eight years old with my dad. I was pretty much forced into it without a choice. After all, it’s not a very girly sport. I think I wanted to do it initially because my older sister did it and my dad did taekwondo. But like anything, you do it once or twice and you don’t want to do it again, kind of like school. But, you know, my dad was a loving father and always sees the best in his children. He told us to keep training and keep active – and I’m very grateful for that. It has allowed me to keep travelling and represent Australia in various tournaments around the world. I’ve made so many friends, and they’re a great support network; I’m really glad to have grown up in the sport.
Caroline: I was competing at 12 and 14. And that played into, perhaps, my break. Taekwondo consumed our entire lives. That reached a boiling point after Beijing and I needed a complete break. I went back to university, but that affected my decision to come back. As much as I loved that freedom, I realised that taekwondo is part of what I am. What I get out of it — athleticism, friendships, etc. — it was an important part of my life, and I had taken it for granted. I was brought up in that environment.
Do you remember the point where you began to take it more seriously?
Carmen: When I got my Black-belt, when I was 12, my sister made her national team. She was 14 and she travelled to her first national championship in Turkey. I was just so jealous and I couldn’t go as I was too young. I just wanted to go overseas so much and just fight. It was a sport I really enjoyed doing – just the sparring. And I think that was a big turning point. When I was set to go overseas to the Korean Open, when I was 14, I just fell in love with it straight away, the opportunity and the experience provided was something I wanted to do because it’s something different. The average person can do recreational sport, but here I was travelling to different countries and being able to work.
Caroline: That tournament changed my life. In Istanbul it was this massive stadium and every country in the world was there with a team. You know, it was the best of the best. We were all young and wanted to win a medal. Everybody there loved taekwondo. It just opened my eyes to elite level sport, as well as the bonding that sport brings. You realise you’re part of something bigger. This thing called taekwondo transcends borders and I said this is what I want to do. And I want to be really good at it.
What victory has taught you the most? Does anything stand out the most?
Carmen: Quite a few. What really made me was the 2009 World Championships, I lost to Thailand in the second round, and even though the fight was quite close, because I didn’t stick to the game plan and implement the tactics that I wanted to, I lost the fight. And she went on to win the bronze medal. But the next time I fought her, at the Korean Open, I stuck to the game plan and was a lot more focused and determined. Then I found her really quite simple — it was so much easier. It taught me that if I do the right thing on the day then I can win and beat some very tough opponents. It just reinforced that I have the skill and the ability to win fights, but it just all comes down to the day.
I think that was important for me. I know now that to take it to the next level I really have to focus on my mental state. I can win fights. I can beat the top fighters in the world as long as I have the right frame of mind and tactics. I think after that competition, the last competition believing in myself makes me a lot more consistent. Hopefully I can maintain that in London and then into the Olympic Games.
Caroline: (Laughs) I’m hoping it’s London. I haven’t really had a career highlight, yet.
Caroline, has their been a turning point in your bid for London?
Caroline: Definitely. After Beijing I took a couple of years off. I guess it would have been a combination of the disappointment of not getting to Beijing and wanting a break. And then when I decided to come back I did my knee. And wanting to come back to the sport and have it taken away from you — I mean literally, I couldn’t do anything on crutches. So, I worked on doing the everyday things that normal people do — walking, running — a long way away from elite level sport. Once that was taken away from me, I went ‘no’ (laughs). And it just made me realise how lucky I was to be at the level I was. It made me appreciate it and focus. It made me think about all the things it took to get to the top and how I would go about doing those. It was all a lot more meaningful after the injury.
You had some trouble with the Australian selection board after an injury?
Caroline: It was the selection process. It’s all past. After that all happened I decided I wanted to focus on my preparation. If I can do well nationally and internationally then that matters more than anything else. None of that other stuff really matters now. What matters is my Olympic bid and where I go in the future.
Carmen: That’s the worst thing that can happen to an athlete. But I think it’s really made her stronger. She’s just so focused now.
You’ve said your father is a mentor of yours in the past, how much credit does he deserve for supporting the Olympic dreams of his two daughters?
Carmen: Well, he still coaches us and trains us, maybe like once a week, as well as our other coaches – Alf Dell‘Orso, Lydia Zakkas and Andrew Rozinszky.
Caroline, who are the biggest influences on your taekwondo career?
It would have to be Lydia Zakkas. She is one of my coaches and, I guess, my most influential mentor. She was a fighter herself — a very physically and tactically strong fighter. She’s amazing to be around with all of her strengths and what she has achieved in the sport. There’s an expression: ‘Sitting on the shoulders of giants’, and that’s what it feel likes when we come and train. Our coaches are tremendous. And to have them as our benchmark, and helping us achieve our goal, is only really a credit to them.
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