Lorena Brandl: Unicycling to the top of Taekwondo

For six-time German Taekwondo champion Lorena Brandl, every day begins and ends with the Olympic rings.

When she wakes up and opens her eyes, the first thing she sees is the flag hanging over her bed, reminding her daily of her grand goal: the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

"When you have the goal in front of you every day, it becomes even easier," Brandl said exclusively to Olympics.com with a laugh.

Brandl is currently Germany's most successful Taekwondo athlete – male or female – and is ranked eighth in the +67 kg class in the World Taekwondo Olympic Ranking list.

Renowned for her high kicks, which seem almost effortless as they strike, they are a skill honed through years of training competitively in unicycling.

But what do unicycling and Taekwondo have in common?

Whether riding a unicycle – which has one wheel and no handlebar – or executing and defending kicks on one leg, immense balance, coordination, and equilibrium are essential.

The 1.86m-tall Brandl perfected unicycling for pure joy and became a three-time German champion from 2008-2010.

Facing the time constraints of pursuing multiple sports, Brandl made a choice based on enjoyment.

"Taekwondo is so individual," said the 26-year-old. "There are so many different aspects to train. Whether it's balance or reaction speed, it varies significantly, and I think that's what makes our sport special.

"You need so much flexibility, but at the same time, it requires a lot of strength. The mix of all these elements fascinates me."

This weekend, an important competition awaits Brandl: the Grand Prix Final in Manchester 2023 from December 1 to 3.

Brandl won the tournament last year, and will come one step closer to her goal of competing at an Olympic Games if she can win more points toward the WT Olympic Ranking.

Only the top five athletes in each weight class in the WT Olympic Ranking will secure a quota for their respective National Olympic Committees with the Olympic ranking coming to a conclusion after this tournament.

"I hope very, very, very much, that my dream [of a quota place] comes true in December, and I don't have to go to the Europe Qualification Tournament in February. But anything can happen," said Brandl.

Read on to find out why friendship and mental strength are so important for Brandl as she tries to successfully navigate a path to a debut Olympic Games.

• As National Olympic Committees have exclusive authority over representing their countries at the Olympic Games, the participation of athletes in the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them as representatives of their delegation for Paris 2024.
• Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.

High and low kicks of emotions

Brandl grew up in a small village near Mittelstetten in Bavaria (Germany). When her friends told her about the Tiger and Dragon Taekwondo martial arts school, she wanted to join. Taking immediately to the sport, she had fun doing the fighting exercises and kept coming back.

In 2011, her trainer left the school, and Brandl considered putting her Taekwondo uniform, known as Dobok, in the closet.

"My dad said, 'Go there again, check it out. There's a new trainer coming. Don't just quit. See if you like it'," she recalls.

Fortunately, she followed her father's advice. The new trainer, Bernhard Bruckbauer, encouraged her to participate in competitions and has been by her side since 2011.

"He [Bruckbauer] said to me, 'Lorena, you're tall, you have long legs, we can make a competitor out of you,'" Brandl remembered as if it were yesterday.

Just three years later, she was competing for the German national team and seemed unstoppable thereafter. She won the German championship six times (2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, +73 kg Nuremberg 2023, +67 kg Düsseldorf 2023) and earned bronze at the World Championship in 2022.

Only the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 threw obstacles in her path.

She caught the virus two months before the Euro Qualification Tournament in 2020, which significantly affected her performance. Her reaction time and balance were severely impacted, so she did not qualify for her debut Games.

"That's why I want it even more this year. For every elite athlete at this level, the Olympics are the pinnacle of what we can achieve. That's why you work very hard, no matter how many hours, years, for that one moment."

Read more: How to qualify for Taekwondo at Paris 2024. The Olympic qualification system explained

**Taekwondo and friendship

**

"We travel to every competition together, unless there's an injury, but otherwise, it's just us as a pair," said Brandl about her best friend and fellow practitioner, Vanessa Körndl.

Both Taekwondo fighters began their journey in the sport as children and have been inseparable ever since. While they are both aiming for the world's top spot, thankfully for their friendship they compete in different weight classes.

Körndl, a five-time German champion in the -67 kg category, is in 20th position ahead of the Manchester Grand Prix in the WT Olympic Ranking list.

Where other athletes occasionally struggle with homesickness, these two friends enjoy their competition travels to the fullest and are always there for each other. A piece of home always accompanies them.

From Monday to Friday, Brandl, Körndl, and their trainer Bruckbauer, who is also the national training center coach, drive together to the Federal Training Center in Nuremberg at 8am before returning in the evening. The car rides afford the opportunity to discuss training details.

"Our week usually varies. It depends on the competition phase we're in. So, there's running, then Taekwondo, or strength and endurance sessions, and a lot of stability training. I've had many injuries in the past, and this helps prevent them," said Brandl.

When motivation wanes, Brandl directs her gaze to her medal wall particularly focusing on a poster, a gift of great value to her. A friend created a collage with moments of the athlete's success, adorned with the inspiring caption, "Follow Your Dreams".

Every time she looks at it, it reminds her of what she trains hard for every day.

Friendship strengthens and accompanies Brandl throughout her career as a professional Taekwondo athlete.

Mental strength is difference between winning or losing

"I've been working with mental trainers for about two and a half years, or even longer. They've taught me a lot and provided tremendous support. They've shown me strategies that make things much easier, things you simply wouldn't think of on your own," said Brandl.

"I've received strategies about what to think before a fight, how to talk to myself, to stay calm, not let the nervousness rise but rather transform it into energy. It's very relieving when it works because then the body works completely differently, and the fight is different."

Before competitions, Brandl tells herself positive phrases like, "You are strong, you are the best. Others respect you. Stay calm.

"You have to be able to imagine what you want to achieve. If you can imagine it, then you can achieve it."

She also uses these strategies to avoid being affected by painful hits, which she can often still feel under the protective equipment.

"It hurts sometimes, but you just get over it and come to terms with it. That’s our sport, it's martial arts and not petting,” said Brandl with a smile.

"I broke my elbow in a fight. I still kept fighting and even fought in the final because I didn't want to give the opponent the gold medal.

"I only managed that thanks to adrenaline. I had such pain afterwards. But in a fight, you're in your own tunnel."

Brandl's body and mind are well-prepared for the Manchester Grand Prix 2023, and the friends are determined to bring home a medal each.