SEAG karate champ Jamie Lim determined to qualify to Tokyo Olympics

MANILA, Philippines – A Southeast Asian Games champion, the talented daughter of "The Skywalker" wants to be an Olympian karateka.

Jamie Lim, who joined her dad, basketball legend Samboy Lim, in the roster of SEAG gold medalists with her triumph in karate last year, looms as one of the country’s top bets in the sport's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June 2021.

And she made a strong case for this by winning the -68kg gold medal at the tough Ukrainian Karate Premier League Kharkiv Open last February.

“I’m as determined as can be to win the qualifiers and make it to Tokyo,” Lim told The STAR.

The prospect of an Olympics stint is something that’s too much to pass up for Lim, who previously took a four-year break from karate to concentrate on academics. After graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from University of the Philippines, she returned to competition mid-2019.

“I missed out on training and competing for four years during my college, but I have one chance to get through with this one competition,” she said.

“It won’t be easy, and some may say it’s a long shot, but I’ll do everything and prepare the best way I can to win it (qualifiers),” she added.

Lim and her fellow aspirants had to make a big change of plans due to the global pandemic. The Pinoy karatekas were training in Turkey when the Philippines started locking down.

“We came home with everything uncertain but we did our best to prepare for whatever circumstance,” she said.

While quarantine restrictions are in effect and government clearance for Olympic hopefuls’ training is yet to be obtained, Karate Pilipinas national coaches arranged regular weekly training seminars for the team via Zoom.

“Until a decision is made (on the return to training proposal), we will just be training hard as we always do, adapting to each situation,” said Lim, who needs to finish in the Top 3 of the Qualifiers to qualify for Tokyo.

Lim’s Olympic aspiration is shared by Japan-based Junna Tsukii and US-based Joane Orbon.