One of the most touching moments during Thailand's gold medal victory in taekwondo was when two historic figures representing the Kingdom hugged each other, and one prostrated herself before the other to show utmost love and gratitude.
“They are a dream team,” enthused a female commentator during the final of the women’s taekwondo event at the 2024 Olympic Games, as Thailand’s gold medalist Panipak “Tennis” Wongpattanakit and her coach Chatchai Che, known as Coach Che, celebrated the win.
Tennis then handed a Thai flag to her coach, who held it and waved it around the competition arena in celebration before returning the flag to her for her own celebratory round.
This moment of respect and appreciation brought tears of joy to spectators and Thai audiences alike.
For both Tennis and Che, this was a dream come true—and not just any dream, but their ultimate dream. They shared a common goal of winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, though for slightly different reasons.
Twenty-seven-year-old Tennis wanted to retire from taekwondo with yet another Olympic gold medal, while Coach Che wanted to be known as a Thai Olympic medal-winning coach.
And they did it! Tennis has become Thailand’s first-ever two-time Olympic champion. Winning back-to-back gold medals at the Olympics is a tough feat for any athlete, including those from sports superpower nations. Coach Che, meanwhile, achieved his goal of winning an Olympic gold medal for the Kingdom when Tennis won gold at the previous Olympics.
This time, his other dream was fulfilled: winning the gold as a Thai, not a Korean, coach.
“I want to be Thai and want to be known as a Thai Olympic medal-winning coach, not a Korean coach for the Thai national team,” he once told the press.
And the 50-year-old has done just that: made history as a Thai coach who led the Kingdom to back-to-back gold medals in taekwondo.
“Thailand has three sports in which it has the potential to win gold medals at the Olympics: weightlifting, boxing, and taekwondo.”
“All of these sports had foreign coaches, so I wanted to be a Thai coach winning for Thailand,” Coach Che said during a TV interview before he successfully gained Thai citizenship.
“I’m very happy that we have won a gold medal—the second one for Thailand—together, especially now that Coach Che is Thai,” Tennis told a reporter from South Korea's SBS.
After 22 years, Coach Che has filled his résumé with two Olympic gold medals—one under the name of Coach Chatchai, a Thai coach. He first arrived in Thailand on an 8-month contract to train Thai Taekwondo players for the Asian Games in Busan.
His contract was extended and by then he had formed strong bonds with his students, making it hard to leave any of them.
“They were like my kids, and I didn’t think I could bear the feeling of competing against them,” he said when asked on a TV show why he didn’t choose to work for other nations that approached him with more attractive deals after winning medals.
Coach Che has achieved his ultimate dream with the best team he had in Tennis, the athlete he has trained since ... The special bond between the two has made them more than just coach and student, and this was evident during the tournament. The two trust each other, share mutual respect, and form a great team.
Coach Che grooms a new batch of athletes and trains them intensely under the motto “No Pain, No Gain.” He ensures that all his students train with strict discipline and hard practice.
To him, discipline is the key to success, not only in sports but in life, and he observed a lack of it in Thai students.
Tennis is perhaps the masterpiece of his “No Pain, No Gain” policy.
The two-time gold medalist has often expressed her experience of severe physical pain.
“This body is now full of injuries—my knees, hips, and ankles,” Tennis told Thai PBS, adding that she was nonetheless willing to sacrifice her body for one last gold medal.
Training occupies most of her daily life. “It’s showering, washing my hair, and then training—morning, afternoon, and evening. Sometimes I couldn’t even dry my hair and had to train while it was still wet,” she told Thai PBS.
She said that she followed the strict routine in the knowledge that she was enduring more fatigue than others, giving her 100% in everything, and accepting whatever result may come.
“I want to tell my future kids and everyone that I did my best. I won’t be filled with regret it if I don’t get my second gold, but I’m ready for it,” Tennis said in an interview before she left for the Olympics.
Tennis achieved it, and the gold medal was the sweetest moment, especially since she received it on her 27th birthday. “It’s the best birthday present ever,” she told reporters, adding that the final in Paris was an arduous task as she defended her championship against an opponent she had met before, both eager to win with their strategies.
Many in the audience noticed that Coach Che appears Thai in the way he treats the athletes he trains and in the way he shows emotions, in addition to speaking fluent Thai.
When he stood with Tennis at the interview, he was nothing if not a proud dad.
After more than two decades, Coach Che seems to have absorbed Thai culture. When Tennis prostrated before him on the taekwondo mat, he acknowledged her respect—a gesture that only Thai people would understand.
The moment of the two kneeling together touched the hearts of many, signifying that they have become united as one perfect pair—the greatest “team” that Thailand may have ever had. “Thank you all. We Thais can do it,” Coach Che told reporters after the victory.
He worked hard to train his students and earned the nickname “the tough coach” from them.
But thanks to his methods and dedication, Thailand has elevated itself from a minor player to a powerhouse in Taekwondo, making him one of the most successful foreign coaches in Thai history.
The long wait for this historic back-to-back Olympic golds has finally come to an end, thanks to the perfect pair—Tennis and Coach Che.
