Kiwi taekwondo Olympian set to surprise
At 90kg and 1.83m tall, the 30-year-old immigration officer doesnt look like the type of guy who could drop someone with a lightning kick to the head.
And hes hoping giants such as 2m-tall world champion Daba Modibo Keita, of Mali, and French beast Pascal Gentil share that sentiment.
I know exactly where I am in my division. There is a lot of footage on YouTube so I can look at those guys as much as I like, Beach said yesterday. To them Im an unknown on the world stage, so thats [surprise] definitely a big advantage.
The former Tawa College student heads to Europe today for a six-week tour he hopes will have him primed for a tilt at a medal in Beijing in August.
The trip will double as a fact-finding mission as he builds up a memory bank of how his likely opponents fight. To watch all those guys in action will be invaluable … how they are scoring and what their tactics are, he said.
Beach knows he will need every piece of skill, knowledge and experience he can get if he is to emerge from the 16-man heavyweight division with a chance at a medal.
The division starts at 80kg, so it can be quite light because its made for Asia. So there are some lighter guys around, which is good for me, but there are also some giants, he said.
You need to have a game plan against those guys.
I have two, one against guys the same size or smaller than me and one for the bigger guys.
Beach hopes to outlast his bigger foes and has been putting in the hours with sparring partner Steve Rickard twice a day at Les Mills gym.
I am aiming to be one of the fittest guys in the division. Its three two-minute rounds, which doesnt sound like much, but it really takes its toll.
His selection in the New Zealand Olympic team hasnt exactly dominated headlines since he qualified last December.
In New Zealand its not big, but world wide its huge, he said. Its the national sport of Korea and Iran and in Mexico its second only to football.
For Beach, the Olympics is the realisation of a dream he has strived for since the sport was admitted to the Games programme in Sydney in 2000.
Twice he has missed selection, but four years living in London and competing in Europe took him to the level required to compete on the world stage before he returned home in December 2006.
Ive been working toward this goal for so long. After failing in 2000 and 2004 and then deciding to come back, when I got the phone call that Id made it, it was quite a surreal feeling, he said.
I fought the Korean No1 at Manchester in September last year and lost by one point, so that was a big confidence boost ahead of Beijing.
I can definitely beat the top guys.
Beach is part of the Wellington Olympic Club, one of 10 taekwondo clubs in Wellington, and estimates hes spent close to $30,000 on the sport in the past decade.
Im sponsored by Mastercard, my Mastercard, he joked.
The Wellingtonian will have plenty of support in Beijing with his partner, Claudia, parents Christine, who lives in Eketahuna, and Andrew, from Paraparaumu and brother and sister, John and Catherine, all planning to attend.
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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 at 1:30 am under