Fighting her way to gold: Local Zoe Putorak comes home victorious.
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The World Games were hosted in Birmingham, Alabama last month, and they were a knockout success for local Canberra fighter Zoe Putorak who brought home Australia’s first gold medal in Muay Thai at the games.
From stepping foot into her first gym at nine years old to becoming the co-owner of her very own gym Sabai Mauy Thai, 23-year-old Zoe is certainly not pulling any punches in the martial arts world.
“I always say that I sort of just fell into it. I have an older brother and he was doing footy at the time with the local football club and I’m a really annoying little sister, I like to be a part of what my brother’s doing. When they all went to do a group training session at a local gym and were doing Muay Thai, I watched and thought it was really cool. My parents then signed me up and I stuck with it ever since,” says Zoe.
“It was something I’ve never done before. I was always a very active kid but learning a different skill and being able to put that energy out in such a powerful way, there’s gratification there. As you stick with it and get better and better, you can see the improvement and your progress, which made me stick with it.”
It was clearly a sign that Zoe followed her brother into the gym that day—and as two fights stood between her and the gold at the World Games she made sure to continue to put her best foot forward.
Even up against the USA fighter with the crowd chanting against her, Zoe kept her cool and moved onto the final against France.
“It was surreal. It was crazy. I knew that I had won the first two rounds and so for the third round, she needed to knock me out, and obviously I didn’t want that to happen. I remember just trying to keep the fight going at a nice pace and my coach calls out, almost simultaneously as I’m doing the move that he wanted me to do. It ended up knocking her out,” says Zoe.
“She just went down, and she didn’t get back up. It was so surreal to be standing there and waiting for my opponent to get up and then to get my hand raised. It was very emotional which I didn’t expect. It’s just like everything came together,”
Zoe wasn’t alone in feeling the emotions of this momentous win with her coach and business partner, Lee Fook right there in her corner.
“He has been my main training partner for years and years, so being able to share that experience with him is very, very special. When I head kicked her and I looked over to my corner, I could see him going off and he was jumping around with excitement. I like to think he’s very proud and he definitely had a bit of a celebratory dance as well,” she says.
Breaking the taboo around fighting while promoting the strength and empowerment that comes from training is something that Zoe hopes that will inspire other people.
“We used to go out and coach them [school groups], and it was definitely something that I really enjoyed doing. Especially trying to get the girls amp-ed up and excited about it,” she says.
“Some girls, they feel like something’s unleashed in them. I want to show that if you do like this stuff, it is not taboo and it’s not going to be seen as a bad thing. If it makes you feel good and empowered go for it,”
Showing the world time and time again that she belongs in the spotlight of the global stage, Australians will get a chance to watch Zoe live and in action later this month.
“I have a fight on the 26th of August and that’s going to be up in Darwin for a WBC Australian title fight, which is pretty exciting,”
“This will be my first WBC title fight and I’m actually rematching a girl who I fought a few years back and lost against. I’m very excited and very keen to fight this time, get the win and get the belt.”
Feature image supplied by Zoe Putorak.
