Taiwanese Olympic medalist Lo Chia-ling (???) was disqualified from the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championships this week after missing weight by 0.1 kilograms, even after cutting her hair in a last-ditch effort to tip the scales.
Lo, the winner of a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, was set to make her 2023 debut at the Las Vegas event, after last month’s Turkish Open Taekwondo Tournament was cancelled in the wake of a catastrophic earthquake.
As the March 3-5 event got underway, however, Lo did not compete, even as other Taiwanese athletes picked up medals in the men’s team recognized Poomsae and women’s freestyle Poomsae events.
In a social media post on Sunday (Taiwan time), Lo’s coach, Liu Tsung-ta (???), explained that Lo had been disqualified after missing weight in a pre-tournament weigh-in.
The post recounted the factors that led to the setback, including the competition’s unusually short 10 a.m.-12 p.m. weigh-in time, though Liu emphasized that his explanations were “not [an attempt] to shirk responsibility.”
On the day of the weigh-in, Liu said, he asked Lo to report her weight shortly after 7 a.m., and when she said she was still 0.3 kg above the limit for her under 57-kg weight class, he asked her to go for a run.
After the run, Lo said she was still 0.2 kg above weight and left it at that, Liu said, adding that she must have assumed athletes could weigh in naked, as is allowed in competitions in Taiwan.
When Lo and Liu arrived at the weigh-in at 11:45 a.m., however, an official told them competitors could not weigh in naked or even remove articles of clothing in order to make their weight class.
As a result, Lo decided to cut her hair off on the spot in an effort to qualify, but she still missed weight by 0.1 kg, Liu said, adding that by then it was already past noon, and tournament officials began leaving the facility.
In the post, Liu said the situation was unacceptable, given that their travel expenses were paid for by Taiwan’s taxpayers.
While Lo had been wrong to “take chances” at the weigh-in, the responsibility was ultimately his as the coach, he said.
“A coach has to take responsibility for an athlete’s problems, and when I return [to Taiwan] I’ll submit a report reviewing what happened,” Liu said, adding “I’m sorry for letting everybody down.”
In a separate Facebook post Sunday, Lo apologized to her coach, her team and her supporters for the disqualification, saying she would “always remember the lesson of this 0.1 kg.”
“I have three more competitions this month, and will work even harder,” she said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel