London 2012: I will be Back, Chukwumerije

Beijing 2008 Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije has reaffirmed his stance to return to action after a possible surgery was ruled out for the injury he copped during the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)-organised 2012 London Olympic Games Qualifiers held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

For Chukwumerije, this is indeed good news, following his inability to qualify from the Baku tourney to London.

“I have passed on the MRI report to our excellent physio team in the National Camp, and they will be reviewing it shortly. But in summary, my general practitioner (GP) in Manchester informed me I won't be needing a surgery, rather extensive physiotherapy. He also explained that it is my physio that will determine how long the treatment will last,” he said.

The 2007 All Africa Games gold medalist added: “I am very happy that I do not need a surgery as I had feared, and I remain confident that given the fantastic physiotherapists available in the National camp, I will be back to fighting fitness much sooner than I had initially anticipated.”

It would be recalled that after winning his first two fights convincingly at the Baku Olympics qualifiers, a knee injury during the second round forced Nigeria’s Chika Chukwumerije to withdraw from the quarterfinal tie against Greece’s Alexandros Nikoladis.

Chukwumerije, who has been described by taekwondo experts, as one of the best fighters in the world, was at his best in the first round when he overcame India’s seven times national champion, Kundu Sandeep 8-2.

In the second round, he confirmed his status, as he also overwhelmed Austria’s Christoph Decker 7-2 to berth in the quarterfinal stage.

But during the second round encounter, Chukwumerije dislocated his knee but he managed to hold on against the Austrian.

After examination by the medical experts, the 2007 All Africa Games gold medalist was advised to withdraw, as he could not stand with the knee. And this prevented Chukwumerije from avenging his semifinal loss at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in China against Greece’s Nikoladis in the quarterfinal stage. Hence the Greek progressed to the last four and berth in London 2012.

For now, Chukwumerije will have another opportunity to make it to 2012 London Olympics when the African qualifiers hold in January in Egypt.

Meanwhile, 24 spots were secured at the Baku World Qualification Tournament in Azerbaijan with 15 countries taking at least one ticket to the taekwondo competition of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Korea grabbed four tickets while six countries – host Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, China, Croatia and Chinese Taipei – won two berths each for the 2012 Olympic Games, while eight countries – Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, France, Italy and Greece – took one spot to the London Olympic Games.