THIS is definitely not the way to treat a gold medalist.
Junna Tsukii turned emotional in social media post after her victory in the women's -50 kg kumite of the 30th Southeast Asian Games karate competition, lamenting that she was told by her coach that she's "dead" to him.
The Fil-Japanese, a bronze medalist in the last Asian Games, vented her frustrations in a lengthy Facebook post, claiming she was snubbed and almost ignored altogether by her coach, who she did not disclose.
"Now I'm very sad, even (if) I have (a) gold medal," she wrote.
"Today, we had team meeting after our game, and during that meeting head coach call names of all the players who played today and he said that 'congrats' 'I proud of you' to them, but he never said my name and he didn't look my face. [sic]"

Tsukii bared that this wasn't the first time that the coach left her out and ignored her as she's been treated with a cold shoulder since returning from a tournament in Madrid, Spain.
"I couldn't stand being bullied in front of everyone at a team meeting today, so I asked head coach that 'Why you didn't call my name? I also played today' and he said me that 'Because you are not part of the team, that's why your medal is not for this team or not for this country. And for me you are dead, that's why I can't see you because you are dead' [sic]," Tsukii continued.
"I swear that I always fought for my country. And I am not dead, I am alive. Please stop hurting anymore, please."
It was a sad turn of events for the 28-year-old Tsukii, who won her first gold in the SEA Games and is now setting her sights on qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
But this is just the latest on the drama that has embroiled Karate Pilipinas Inc. (KPI).
James de los Santos, a decorated kata athlete, came out and claimed that he was "robbed" of his spot five days before the SEA Games started in favor of a junior athlete who was a son of an executive in the federation.
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