Fighting family going for gold in Rio

Australia's first taekwondo World Champion Carmen Marton is preparing to qualify for her third Olympics, alongside her sister and husband. With just four spots on the Olympic team, the Martons are hoping to make it a family affair.

Australia's Carmen Marton competes against Sweden's Elin Johansson at the London 2012 Olympics.

Carmen Marton was close to winning Australia's third taekwondo medal during the London 2012 Olympics. Source: AAP

Carmen Marton comes from a family that knows how to fight.

The daughter of Polish refugees, Marton made history in 2013 becoming Australia's first taekwondo world champion.

"That was my childhood dream when I saw my sister train and only being 3-4 years old I knew I wanted to be the world champion," she said.

The year she won, both her brother Jack and sister Caroline also made the Australian taekwondo team. With both parents also graded taekwondo athletes, Jack Marton said people often ask questions.

"The first question they always ask is how many fights do we have at home and who wins all the fights."
Martons
Carmen and Jack Marton training for the Rio Olympics.
Next month he'll be supporting his sisters at the Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Papua New Guinea. The pair are in different weight categories meaning they could both qualify for Rio.

Marton is hoping to win a chance at redemption, after narrowly missing out on a medal at the London 2012 Games.

"I knew I had the capability to come away with a medal, then to come away with nothing crushed me but I knew what I had to do to win that medal and in the following year I won the world championships," she said.

Her husband - fellow Australian taekwondo athlete Safwan Khalil - is also hoping to win a ticket to Rio. But Marton said the Olympics are strictly business.

"It's not a honeymoon if you have to train. I count it as a half holiday, we're incredibly blessed to be able to travel together in our sport."
Martons
Taekwondo couple Carmen Marton and Safwan Khalil. Source: Supplied
Australia is sending four taekwondo athletes to Rio in the hopes of backing up the only two medals the country has won in the sport, taken at the Sydney 2000 Games.

Lauren Burns won gold in the women's under 49kg class and Daniel Trenton took the silver in the men's heavyweight division.

Australia's Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller said if Australia hopes to make the top five in the medal tally, we need to cast a wide net.

"We can't just rely on the traditional sports of swimming and track cycling and sailing to get us into that top five," she said.

And Marton's coach Alf Dell'orsois confident she can deliver.

"I suspect if all goes well she's up there to win at least one medal and we're talking about the medal, the gold medal."
Martons
Coach Alf Dell'orso with Carmen and Jack Marton.
Marton said she won't be happy with anything else.

"For London I made the mistake of being content with any medal, but now I know that that's not enough focus, it won't sustain me throughout the day if I'm happy with any medal I know it has to be gold."

Fulfilling a plan that's been years in the making.


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3 min read
Published 18 January 2016 8:56pm
Updated 20 January 2016 11:22am
By Abby Dinham

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