SHE may be playing an individual sport, but every time Jamie Lim steps on the mat, she knows she's not alone in battle.
She knows she carries the name of the whole country, taking inspiration from a mantra that constantly runs through her head: "Para sa Bayan."
The summa cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines will never forget the first time those words truly struck home for her -- that emotional moment when she won her first Southeast Asian Games gold medal back in 2019.
More than a year has passed, but this moment lingers on in her memory as she commits full-time to Karate Pilipinas and vies for an Olympic slot in Tokyo.
"I remember hearing the national anthem play while I was on the podium of the SEA Games, and I really hope to experience that again, but this time, in the Olympics," she told SPIN Life.
Lim, together with other national athletes, has already entered the Calamba training bubble in Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna last weekend to begin practices for their respective qualifiying tournaments later in the year.
The daughter of PBA legend Samboy Lim is among the three Pinays gunning for slots in the sport's debut in the world's biggest sporting event. Other hopefuls include Fil-Japanese Junna Tsukii and Fil-Am Joane Orbon.
They've got their sights set on the final qualification tournament in June, in Paris, France.
Lim is confident she has enough time to get equipped for the competition. She said that she maximized last year's quarantine to work on her individual skills.
"I've used the whole 2020 to work on myself -my conditioning, strength, technique, and now, in this last five months before the qualifiers, I'll be ready for this last push just like how I was before the SEA Games," she said. "Five months of intense training program prepared by the [our] coaches will be enough. I'm eager to get back at [sparring]. We wil also be working on a lot of strategy once we get to train together."
Rest assured, the Philippine contingent has got all they need inside the Calambubble.
She added: "I've seen the facilities and they're really great, we've been insulated in our rooms for the past few days and it's been a comfortable stay. We're in spacious rooms and we're well fed, so, I'm really happy about that."
Even if it means a nonstop, grueling hustle for the karateka in the next few months, she's more than happy to be given the opportunity to once again represent the country, come what may.
"I'm very honored to be given this chance to qualify for the olympics. My family also very much appreciates the impact of this and how big this is. They were always so supportive of me," Lim said.
She added: "We're just all really excited for this shot and we're hoping for the best. Being able to win for the country in the biggest sporting event would really mean the world to me."
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