WIET HENIN Magda

General
TOKYO AMBITION
She says her aspirations of a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are inspired by compatriot Haby Niare, who won silver in the -67kg category at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. "She is a girl that I adore and who passed the torch on to me. I hope to make France shine like she did. I want to take up the challenge of winning the first gold medal in the history of French taekwondo. Haby is a role model. In Rio, when she stepped off the podium, she said to me, 'The next one is for you'. She showed me the way." (insidethegames.biz, 01 Jan 2021; sportmag.fr, 10 May 2021; ouest-france.fr, 07 May 2021)

MENTAL PREPARATION
She has been placing emphasis on the mental side of the sport for several years. She uses breathing exercises to control pre-fight nerves. "In 2017, at my second world championships in the Republic of Korea, I was in good shape and everyone told me I was going to win a medal. I even asked my mum to come with me. In the end, I did not win a medal and I lost against a girl who was not very well-known. It was a really hard blow. Normally I recover from failure after a few months and move on, but this time it took me almost a year to recover. The lesson I took from this failure is the importance of mental preparation. Physically and tactically I was ready, but not mentally. After this competition, I decided to take my mental preparation seriously. I now know how to manage stress. I know what I have to do in my matches. Mental preparation teaches me to visualise myself succeeding, to be confident in my abilities, not to underestimate myself in the face of opponents and to understand my strengths and weaknesses to use them in competition." (insidethegames.biz, 01 Jan 2021, 10 Dec 2020; sportiste.com, 22 Aug 2020)

DOUBTS IN 2017
She says she nearly quit taekwondo in 2017 after going through a difficult period. "2017 was complicated for me. I had big doubts and I was about to end my career. In addition, I had a new coach with whom everything was not going well. I spoke about it with my mum who gave me good advice, and I went to train in Palma de Mallorca [Spain]. There was an excellent coach there and I was able to train with a girl who had been in my category at the Olympics. It really did me good and I rediscovered my motivation." (sportiste.com, 22 Aug 2020)

FUTURE PLANS
In October 2020 she began a professional integration contract at a French bank alongside her taekwondo commitments. "It is my retraining. The day I end my career, I am in the company on a permanent contract. At INSEP [the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance], I go to an agency on Thursday afternoons to learn the trade. I am going at my own pace." (theindianpaper.com, 01 May 2021; Facebook profile, 17 Jul 2020; LinkedIn profile, 13 May 2021)

FURTHER EDUCATION
She has studied for master's degrees at Paris-East Creteil University and Emlyon Business School in France. (sportiste.com, 22 Aug 2020; LinkedIn profile, 13 May 2021; theindianpaper.com, 01 May 2021)