If the man entrusted with the task of overseeing the country’s overall progress in sports says that Thailand’s chances of regaining their lost Olympic glory this August are “slim”, one can’t help but listen.
Skeet shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit will be making her third Olympic appearance.
Sakol Wannapong, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), is quite downbeat in his assessment of the country’s chances of winning a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
When he was SAT deputy governor four years ago, Sakol was the only Thai official who predicted that the team would fail to win a gold medal at the London Games — and they didn’t.
This time Sakol said: “Taking all the conditions into account, our chances of winning any medal in Brazil are slim, let alone a gold medal.”
Thailand won their first ever Olympic gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games through boxer Somluck Kamsing. After that, they went on to claim six more gold medals in the next three editions.
Boxer Wijan Ponlid took home the gold at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Four years later, Thailand had their biggest Olympic haul when boxer Manus Boonjumong and weightlifters Udomporn Polsak and Paweena Thongsuk grabbed gold medals in the 2004 Athens Games.
The country bagged another two gold medals through successes of boxer Somjit Jongjorhor and weightlifter Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon at the 2008 Beijing Games.
However, their golden run came to a grinding halt at the last edition in London in 2012, when Thailand managed to take home only two silver and one bronze medals.
Eight months before the start of the 2016 Olympics, the Thai fans are expecting to see their athletes bring back the golden era.
However, their dream may end up in a nightmare as Thailand seem to be heading for their worst Olympic show in two decades.
Sakol said: “Our preparations this time cannot match the 2012 Games in London.”
The SAT governor said that for the Rio Games, Thailand’s chances aren’t getting any better, but “rather getting worse.
“We must accept that our athletes in many sports have been struggling with their form lately.
“Our main medal hopes are in taekwondo, badminton, boxing, and weightlifting, but athletes in these sports haven’t shown enough potential to be successful at the Olympic Games.
“Even in taekwondo and boxing, our fighters are not the best in their respective divisions.”
Chanatip Sonkham, a bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics and the reigning Asian Games champion in the 49kg division, and Panipak Wongpattanakit, the 46kg world champion, are seen as Thailand’s best hopes in taekwondo.
Sakol said that Thailand’s best bet at the 2016 Games will be skeet shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit, who will be making her third appearance at the quadrennial sports festival.w
He said: “In shooting, anything can happen in a matter of seconds. Sutiya is very experienced and she might strike it third time lucky.
“Moral support from the fans can also make a difference as it did in the SEA Games and the Paralympic Games.
“Let’s see and give it our best shot.”
Gen Yutthasak Sasiprabha, president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand, strongly believes that the Kingdom’s athletes will bring home a medal.
He, however, admitted that winning a gold medal in Rio will be an uphill task.
Sakol and Yutthasak’s feelings were echoed by Gen Taweep Jantararoj, the man who oversaw the Thai fighters’ march to all the four gold boxing medals in the Olympic Games.
Gen Taweep claimed that he does not see any chance of a Thai boxer winning the gold in Rio.
Under the management of the Thailand Boxing Association, Wuttichai Masuk is so far the only Thai boxer to have qualified for the 2016 Games and the TBA is expecting to claim four more berths from the two remaining qualifying events.
“I don’t even think that our best hope Wuttichai is good enough to win the gold medal,” said Gen Taweep, who was the president of the now-defunct Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand.
“Wuttichai lags behind boxers from Uzbekistan, Russia and Cuba.
“As for Chatchai Butdee and Saylom Ardee, I don’t think they can hope for any medals. They should feel content if they can get a ticket to the Olympic.”
Gen Taweep, whose association was dissolved in 2011, felt sorry that the country’s boxing has not made any progress over the last four years and blamed the TBA for ruining the Thai boxers’ chances on the international stage.
“They are recruiting Muay Thai fighters to the national team. I can tell you that it will never work,” he said.
“It is the same thing I tried some 20 years ago. It did not work at all.
“The only way to succeed is to have a long-term plan and breed boxers from the youth stage.”
Gen Taweep, who is now mentoring IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng, added that coaches also play a major part in boxers’ success.
“In the last few years, one can see that the association did not employ any qualified coaches. Wuttichai’s loss to Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Doha last year is a good example.
“Wuttichai lost to Gaibnazarov just a month after he beat him at the Asian Championships in Thailand. It shows that our opponents are better at fixing their boxers’ problems and helping them improve quickly.”
Asked if he wanted to help the current national team, Gen Taweep said he will wait for the right time to take action, “but it would happen only after the 2016 Olympic Games”.
Thailand are expecting to have about 30 athletes at the Rio Games, but so far only 10 athletes have been assured of places in the 2016 Olympics.
Sakol, meanwhile, is promising enough budget for those who have qualified for the Games to prepare adequately before flying to Brazil.
Sakol is hoping that some Thai athletes will rise to the occasion on the big stage in Rio in August and make sure his prediction doesn’t come true again.
Boxer Wuttichai Masuk reacts after his Asian Games triumph.