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ctually ran off without us at the start to actually build up some money.So we were actually all alone while my mum was pregnant

in Fragen 07.08.2018 08:05
von t123 • 2.563 Beiträge

The moment you walk into the Global Martial Arts gym in western Sydney, Australia, youre greeted by London 2012 memorabilia and a wall that reads Home of the Olympians.The gym is full of kids this particular Tuesday night, boys and girls of all ages unleashing fly kicks with the obligatory sound effects before they fall to a hush and hang on every word of Master Ali.Among them is Australian taekwondo competitor Safwan Khalil. Just a handful of weeks out from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Khalil could be tucked away in his own special corner with an entire training entourage tracking his every kick, punch and block. Yet here he is, mentoring taekwondos next generation.I love it. I love being around, I love being able to give back, Khalil, 30, tells ESPN. Ive been in this sport for a long time, and hopefully after the Olympic Games I can come away with a good result, or regardless, if I dont, I still want to come back and give back.You came in and you saw only the older kids, but there are so many young ones here training who want to be Olympians and aspire to be so much better than what they are now. I just love giving back to them, the young ones and the older ones; its a really good feeling.Khalils Olympic story doesnt subscribe to the typical Australian narrative. He came away from the 2012 London Olympic Games in fourth place after a disappointing bronze-medal match, but the depth of his disappointment is probably lost on everyone but his family and those who come to sweat it out at his Hoxton Park training facility in western Sydney.Thats just the way he likes it, and its really the only support hes ever known. Little wonder, too, since his childhood years were spent adjusting to life in Australia after his family fled Lebanon amid the countrys instability.[It was] extremely tough, Khalil says. As I get older now I do like to find about our history with the family. And my mum, you know she tears up every time she tells me the story because my dad actually ran off without us at the start to actually build up some money.So we were actually all alone while my mum was pregnant with me; my father was actually here in Australia trying to build some money and establish himself here and my mum was alone [in Lebanon] with the three kids about to give birth to me.I remember my mum telling me, my uncle actually called my father and said, You need to get your kids out of here, its crazy, and he could hear gunshots and so on happening. So you know he had to scrape every piece of coin he could get together and get us out and, yeah, it was a really, really horrific moment of our life.There were no gunshots whizzing in Sydney, but Khalil, his parents, five brothers and one sister still endured some hairy moments.My brother actually burned our house down, Khalil says.I remember it like it was yesterday. I was on my little pink bike riding up and down the street and I remember riding and stopping in front of the house and a blaze going through the window, my sister running into the house. She says she slapped him and ran him out of the house because he lit the couch on fire with a lighter; and if you meet Sami [Samir] and you get to know his character you would be like, yeah, he would light anything on fire, its the way he is.My mum was out shopping on a bus because she didnt have a [drivers] licence, and [she] got off the bus and her house was literally on the ground.The Khalil brothers played all kinds of sports. But eventually the sibling rivalry reached a tipping point, and tired of her sons fly kicks from the family lounge, Khalils mother pointed her brood in the direction of the nearest gym.We grew up playing [rugby] league in the front yard, backyard cricket, and [then] taekwondo came about.You know, we grew up watching a lot of Jackie Chan, [Jean-Claude] Van Damme [movies] and all this sort of stuff, and my mum got sick of us bashing each other around the house; thats all we did. We were doing fly kicks off the couch and she was fed up. My dad was working 16-hour days and my mum was trying to balance cooking, cleaning, the boys.So she found the nearest taekwondo school and said, Go bash some other kids, and we did. We went into our first competition and got to punch on with other kids, and we werent getting in trouble for it and I was in love. And ever since then I just havent looked back.These days, Khalil continues to punch on with one of his brothers -- Master Ali. Ali Khalil, 33, is known as Master Ali Khalil in a taekwondo environment. The duo travelled together to London as part of Australias taekwondo team, and will do the same thing in Rio.Ali has been by Safwans side throughout his taekwondo journey, making technique adjustments here and offering words of encouragement there. Its an athlete-coach relationship seldom found these days, yet it seems to work perfectly for the Khalil brothers -- the odd stern discussion aside.Its tough at times, Safwan tells ESPN of his unique training setup.Hes my older brother and Ive got all the respect for him, and as weve grown up, anything hes told me to do ... Ive bowed my head and I know Ill do it. But sometimes we disagree on things and we absolutely lose our [temper], especially during [the Islamic fast] Ramadan.Theres times when were both hungry, edgy [during Ramadan], and hell tell me something and Im like, No, I dont want to do it. But were that close and that strong that anything that happens in our relationship, give it 20 minutes and were back the way we were half-an-hour ago.Its got its blessings in a way because we get to work for each other, because anything he tells me to do is absolutely in my best interest and he knows me like a book. And I know everything he does for me is 100 percent for me and I trust him 100 percent, so its fantastic and I love it. Weve had to work at it a lot of the time, but now that were getting older and a lot more mature its easier for us.The extent of this family affair really hits home when you consider that Safwans partner, Carmen Marton, is one of Australias female taekwondo competitors in Rio.Khalil describes Marton as the strongest woman you will ever meet and says there is more than just a friendly rivalry between them even though they are 100 percent behind each other in their pursuit of gold.Motivated by a desire to right his London competition attitude that Khalil says resembled a sulking baby, there will be no sightseeing in Rio; nor will he be chasing Usain Bolt through the Olympic Village -- as he did in 2012.I think my priorities are a lot more set now, and I know what direction Im going in when I walk into Rio, he says.I walked into London this wide-eyed younger man just wanting to soak in the experience, rather than just focusing on what I need to do two minutes at a time. So Im definitely a lot wiser and just a lot more relaxed going into this competition.Whether or not those four years of added wisdom help push Khalil to a gold medal, its impossible not to admire his sporting journey.Taekwondo may be as far from the mainstream Australian sporting psyche as you can get, yet its little wonder, given the way Khalil talks about one-on-one combat, that his infectious attitude has rubbed off on a small but determined group of kids on a Tuesday night at Global Martial Arts. Its almost as if theyre one big family. Having spent a few minutes getting to know Khalil, that in no way is a surprise. Cheap Air Max From China . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Cheap Nike Air Max Outle . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. http://www.cheapairmax.us.com/ . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Discount Air Max . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. Cheap Air Max . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. MADISON, Wis. -- The Big Ten gantlet is here for No. 11 Wisconsin.The Badgers must open conference play by facing three opponents ranked eighth or better in the AP Top 25 over the next three games. They face four ranked opponents over the next five games.It starts this weekend with a visit to No. 8 Michigan State.We see the rankings of our opponents, but were going to approach this Big Ten season like we always have, running back Dare Ogunbowale said. This is why we play at Wisconsin.Its hard to push around the Badgers (3-0), a program historically known for tough, hard-nosed defenses and a punishing running game.The defense remains strong, though there is plenty of uncertainty in the offensive backfield going into Saturdays showdown at Spartan Stadium.Out of the top four running backs on the depth chart, only Ogunbowale isnt on the injury report. Lead tailback Corey Clement is listed as questionable for Michigan State with a sore left ankle that he injured two weeks ago against Akron.And its unclear which quarterback will start handing off the ball to the running backs. Bart Houston is listed as the starter on the depth chart , but coach Paul Chryst on Monday left open the possibility that backup Alex Hornibrook could play as well, or even start.Hornibrook, who lost a competition in training camp for the starting job, may have thrown the race open again for his performance last week against Georgia State. He relieved Houston in the middle of the third quarter and led what had been a struggling offense on three scoring drives. Wisconsin avoided the upset and beat the Panthers 23-17 .Both have to be ready to play, to be sure. Im positive of that, Chryst said when asked if Houston was still the starter. I told them theyll be games when theyre both going to play. You do it in hockey, you have two goalies.The Badgers could just be trying to keep Michigan State guessing, too.Houston, a senioor, has started all three games this season.dddddddddddd He has completed 62 percent of his 71 passes for 527 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Hornibrook, a redshirt freshman, has played against Akron and Georgia State. He has a 76 percent completion rate on 17 passes for 183 yards with two scores and one interception.We need both of them to keep going ... You know what, Ill let the week determine all this stuff -- with whos going to play tailback, whos going to play left guard, whos going to play quarterback, said Chryst, running off a list other positions with depth questions.As for the schedule , Wisconsin is embracing the challenge after a few years of getting some breaks because of Big Ten scheduling quirks.After Michigan State comes a trip to the Big House to play No. 4 Michigan. The Badgers then get a bye week before hosting No. 2 Ohio State in prime time on Oct. 15.There is still no letup after that game, with a trip to Iowa and a visit from No. 20 Nebraska following Ohio State.The always even-keeled Chryst just wants his team to focus on the next game.Youve got to approach each week as its own week, Chryst said. The best way for us to act and be is in the moment, so were excited its Michigan State week.Game notes Besides Clement, RBs Taiwan Deal (right ankle) and Bradrick Shaw (right shoulder) are also listed as questionable, along with OL Jon Dietzen (right leg) and DE Billy Hirschfeld (left leg). ... Pass-catching TE Troy Fumagalli is not listed on the injury report after leaving the Georgia State game following Wisconsins first drive with a right leg injury.---Online: AP College Football: http://collegefootball.ap.org/---Follow Genaro Armas at: https://twitter.com/GArmasAP---This story has been corrected to show gantlet throughout. 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