Hidaya Malak is the first Egyptian athlete to win an Olympic medal in taekwondo, a bronze medal for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and she is currently preparing to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, in addition to winning many medals in her career with taekwondo.
The seventh day was keen on talking to the athlete to find out the latest preparations for the upcoming Olympic Games, her expectations, her football affiliation, her experience with Corona, and her life after marriage, so the next dialogue took place with her ..
When did you start practicing Taekwondo?
I started having about 7 years, and my start was in the hunting club.
Why did you choose this game exactly?
My brother was playing and he was very good, and I was watching him in training until I liked the game and started to practice at that time.
What are the most important tournaments you have achieved? What is the closest to your heart?
The truth is the tournaments are a lot, and it remains difficult to say all of them, but the closest to my heart is the medal of the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the gold of the 2012 World University Championships, gold and then bronze in the World Military Championship in two consecutive sessions, and bronze in the World Cup for teams with the French national team (Egypt did not participate), other than Medals won in two consecutive sessions in the Mediterranean, the Islamic Solidarity Tournament, the African Games, the Arab Games, and the Championships of Spain, America, Ukraine, France, Croatia, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands ... and others.
What was the most difficult situation you were exposed to in tournaments?
The most difficult situations remain, injuries remain, and hours can prevent me from completing the match, or even playing comfortably, and it remains a very difficult feeling because it stops all preparation and effort that is being done before the injury.
Is the game financially expensive?
Currently, it is very expensive, especially if the player wants to compete and still has a world ranking, other than the tools that have remained electronic and are very expensive and the player must practice and play with them.
What is the role of the federation and the sponsoring company in providing the requirements of the game?
The Federation is the organizer and supervisor of the game in all respects, from the first local tournaments and the international agenda and selecting the players of the national teams and its technical apparatus and the camps and then the international participations. It is possible for the player to be in need, to participate in it .... However, the sponsoring company coordinates for the player every need from the first timings of travel, accommodation, and subsistence, providing sponsors, and managing the player's media file as well.
How do you prepare for the Olympiad?
We joined in a closed camp about two months ago, through which we traveled to two tournaments in Europe, and we are currently preparing joint camps in Sharm el-Sheikh with European teams, and we will travel to another camp during the month of May, before we participate in the African Championship as well at the end of this May, God willing.
Postponing the Olympiad last year, positive or negative?
Monday, the negative because many athletes stop any need in their lives waiting for the Olympics, but the positive is that it is an additional period of better preparation and preparation for the competition.
Tell us about the corona infection and how it was dealt with?
Praise be to God. I got tired for a little while the first week, but after that the improvement was gradual to some extent. The smear remained negative after about 3 weeks of isolation at home.
What about reconciling the role of the wife and the player in terms of association with training and camps?
Praise be to God, my husband is an athlete, he is also like Egypt internationally, there is a common understanding regarding any training, camps or tournament travel ...
Is marriage affected your preparation for the Olympiad?
There was no pure effect in it, because the Corona period the previous year, everything has largely stopped, and yet I did not look for pure training even when the team had to stop training, and the sponsoring company helped me because it provided me with all the training needs at home.
Hedaya is said to have declined in its form after Rio de Janeiro due to engagement and marriage. What is your comment?
Although I am not at all preferring to talk about any personal matters that concern me or anyone else, but my international ranking jumped more than 50 places after the Olympics and prepared for this sufficient response, but it is important not to confuse playing with a higher weight, which was inevitable after Rio 2016 because it was My store is 6 years old, and I am 17 years old. I play at the same weight, and of course this is not normal, and this calls for my arrangement to change completely because the international system does not maintain the same order if I change the scale, after what was number 3 in the world at a weight of 57 kg.
What food do you excel in cooking?
Praise be to God, I know I do a lot of food because I have had to live alone outside Egypt for long periods, and although this was not the best thing for sure, I learned to do a lot of urgent food ..
Do you watch football matches? What is your football affiliation?
Unfortunately, I do not have time to pursue football or any other sport, because from the time I played in the first team in 2011, there is no discussion in which there is a pure time to do anything I do not even see my family and my friends .... But if I watch the matches will remain for Liverpool because they have Mohamed Salah .
How do you see Mohamed Salah's professionalism, and has he contacted you before?
Sure, we are all proud of Mohamed Salah, not only with his high performance and unprecedented achievements in the history of Egyptian football, but also with his professional career and how he was an ambassador for the country in every place he played ... I never contacted before, but we met before that while filming a promotional advertisement that followed Ministry of Youth and Sports .
From your point of view, do players of other games, including you, get the same fame and spotlight as soccer players?
Certainly, we will not get fame or lights, and if I (and I think many athletes agree with me) do not divide me, this is as much as it divides me. Tournaments after that ... and it is certain that a lot of athletes will be separated in it for a fee that covers the athlete. The athletes like in Egypt, who remain all professional, but the teams that we have outside professional football will be free of charge.
What is the reason for non-professional athletes in individual sports in general and taekwondo in particular ..
Like what I said before that, there is no money of any kind for a professional athlete outside of group games, and therefore the term professionalism remains incomplete, as the athlete, whether a player or a player, needs funding or wants to spend on himself after completing a study, he cannot remain a professional unless he has A regular, secure and permanent source of income ...
Your expectations for the performance of the guidance of the owners of the Olympiad? What is the expected medal?
There is no expectation in my opinion for any athlete in the Olympic Games, especially in the non-digital games; Because the variables are very many and complicated, especially with the Corona and the size of the competition with the best players in the world, the draw for matches, arbitration, and of course, before any need, our Lord reconciled.
What do you need guidance angel to achieve Olympic gold?
Supplication that our Lord keeps injuries away from me and grant me success ... and success, God willing ... Praise be to God, this is my third consecutive participation in the Olympic Games, I thank God very much for this honor, but the ambition to achieve a medal is a dream of any athlete, not just me ... May God grant success to all Egyptian athletes, God willing.
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