Maple Grove Takekwondo Athlete To Compete in Paris Olympics
For any athlete to compete at the highest level, it requires countless hours of practice.
“It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of hard work,” said Alasan Ann. “A lot of smart work as well.”
Ann is a master in the Korean martial art of taekwondo. He spent the last 15 years honing his skills with coach Eui Lee at World Taekwondo Academy in Maple Grove.
“It’s more of a kicking style,” Ann said, when asked to describe taekwondo. “Explosive kicks, spin kicks, a lot of those fun tricks you see, it’s a lot of those. That style, it’s really, they call it foot fencing.”
This summer, Ann will get to showcase those kicks against the best athletes in the world. Earlier this month, this 23-year-old Maple Grove native qualified for the Paris Olympics.
“The feeling I mean, it’s one of the best feelings in the world,” Ann said. “Like that, just that winning feeling. Yeah that’s why I do what I do, for that reason.”
Alasan Ann practices a kick with Coach Eui Lee at World Taekwondo Academy in Maple Grove.
His longtime coach, who will join him in Paris, felt like a proud father.
“I was ecstatic because it’s something so difficult,” said Lee. “And for one of my students who’s been with me since they’re basically a baby and to make the Olympics is, it was amazing.”
On Feb. 12 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Ann received a hero’s welcome home from his taekwondo family.
However, while Ann was raised in Maple Grove, he’ll be competing for the West African nation of Gambia, where he has dual citizenship. It’s a country that’s never won an Olympic medal.
“I think I have the opportunity to be able to be the first medal for Gambia, so I think my chances are not too bad,” Ann said.
‘Wrong place, wrong time’
Yet the fact that Ann is even getting that chance is a small miracle in and of itself.
“I just got shot right here in this leg actually,” Ann said, pointing to his right leg. “Yeah, literally right here in this leg, got shot. It was wrong place, wrong time. Just unfortunate and then I was out for a little bit.”
He said the shooting happened in Minneapolis four months before qualifications.
“It was random. We just heard gunshots, everybody was running, and then I just got hit,” he said. “Then I just kept running to make sure I got out of the way and then went to the hospital.”
Ann said he spent several weeks in the hospital recovering.
Alasan Ann spent weeks recovering from his gunshot wound. Photo courtesy: Alasan Ann
“Had some trainers send me just slow and steady stuff to do, just to build up the muscle in my leg,” Ann said. “And I was really just praying, thanking God.”
In the end, everything worked out.
Now, the Olympic preparation begins, with a new outlook on life.
“It made me really realize how blessed I was to be able to do what I do, for sure,” Ann said of qualifying for the Olympics after being shot in the leg. “It really just made me understand.”
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is July 26. Ann says his taekwondo competition will take place on Aug. 10.
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