SEA Games 2019: Philippines athlete returns from 4-year academic break to win Karate gold

Philippines athlete Jamie Lim won the gold medal in Karate at the SEA Games 2019, held at the World Trade Center in Manila, the Philippines on Monday.

What makes Lim’s win all the more special, is the fact that she returned from a four-year academic break only five months ago, and the SEA Games 2019 is her first major tournament since the year 2015.

Last June, she graduated as summa cum laude and valedictorian of the University of the Philippines College of Science after finishing her degree in Mathematics. It took her four years to complete her academic course.

And on Monday, she defeated Indonesia’s Ceyco Zefanya, 2-1, in the finals of the women’s +61kg kumite in karate to secure what was the Philippines’ second gold medal in karate at the SEA Games 2019.

Earlier, Lim had defeated Malaysia’s Audrey Japyus (7-2) in the quarter-final, before winning against Vietnam’s Thao Thi Bui (5-1) in the semi-final to book her spot in the finals. Both Japyus and Thao Thi Bui were strong medal contenders for the event, before getting knocked out by Jamie.

In case you did not know, Jamie Lim is also the daughter of former basketball star Samboy Lim.

Samboy represented his country in the 1985 FIBA Asian Championship in Kuala Lumpur, winning the gold in the process. He also won the bronze medal in the 1986 Asian Games, before winning the silver in the Asian Games conducted only four years later.

“The win was against the odds, because of my opponents – they’re full-time athletes. I became full-time only five months ago,” Jamie Lim said, after her win.

“Karate has always been in my heart,” she added further.

Quotes via ABS-CBN News.