By Laura Michell
Five years ago Caroline Suhardjono agreed to sign up for taekwondo lessons to keep her children interested in the sport. She never imagined one day she would qualify for the world championships.
Ms Suhardjono, from Roxburgh Park, will be heading to Taipei from November 15-18 to compete in the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, alongside her Koryo Taekwondo Centre teammate Damien Hauser.
This is the first time she has qualified for the world championships.
Ms Suhardjono said she was shocked to have qualified before her children.
“At first, I was just fulfilling my promise to my children to try taekwondo when they reached black belt, but then I started to enjoy it,” she said.
“I thought the kids would qualify before me because they have more experience.”
Ms Suhardjono and Mr Hauser have been training five times a week for the competition.
They are hoping the community will help them in their bid to get to Taipei, by helping them raise $6000 to cover some of their expenses.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Ms Suhardjono’s sons.
Ms Suhardjono said there were few grants available for taekwondo – and most were only allocated to children.
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