Few days to the 2024 African Qualification Tournament for taekwondo event of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, Elizabeth Anyanacho has said that she would not underrate any of her opponents in her quest to qualify for her second Olympics appearance in France.
Anyanacho who is expected to compete in the women’s -67kg is number two seed in her weight category as she needs to win a fight to pick her ticket to Paris.
A determined Anyanacho told Sportsafricana, from her base in Germany that she would be departing to Dakar on Tuesday February 6 for the tournament that would hold from Friday February 10 to 11 at the Dakar Arena.
“I know that I am one of the top two seeds in the weight category and I am indeed looking forward to an exciting tournament in Dakar. There is no doubt that my opponents will be aiming to beat me to the ticket, and I am not going to underrate them despite ranking higher than them in the world and in the tournament. Every athlete competing in Dakar, has the wherewithal to pick the ticket and I am hoping to pick one of the tickets at stake in the category,” she said.
She expressed confidence in her preparation saying, “I think I am more confident going into the qualifiers than the previous edition in 2020 where I picked my ticket to Tokyo. I am more experienced and knowledgeable now and I am sure this will be helpful to me in Dakar.”
Five athletes including Anyanacho will compete in Dakar for the two slots at stake in the -67kg while 16 athletes are expected to compete in the weight category in Paris.
Already, six of the athletes have already secured their spots in Paris based on their world and they are Belgium’s Sarah Chaari, Jordan’s Julyana Al-Sadeq, Serbia’s Aleksandra Perišić, China’s Zhang Mengyu, Cote d’Ivoire’s Ruth Gbagbi and Brazil’s Caroline Santos.
According to the organisers of the qualification tournament in Dakar, 16 athletes made up of eight male and eight female are expected to qualify from the Dakar tournament while the top two athletes (Finalists) in the weight categories will qualify their country for a spot for the Paris Olympic Games.