We celebrate the incredible achievements of Cambodian athletes in recent history to mark the opening of our favourite sporting goods store at Raintree. Decathlon’s newest Connect store is just another step to making sports and wellness more accessible for everyone in our local community.
Living amidst the pandemic disruption, health and wellness has become more important than ever. From nutrition to fitness, people have been making significant shifts in lifestyle, including sports. We saw more people running along the riverside, going camping in the mountains, and biking in the provinces. Team Raintree has always believed that sports hold an important place in our community, so we couldn’t be happier that our newest tenant is the leading sporting goods retailer in Cambodia - Decathlon. To mark this exciting opening, we wanted to celebrate Cambodian athletes in recent history who have reached the highest international echelons of their sports. You may be surprised to discover not only is there Cambodian representation at the Olympics but also in huge sporting leagues like the National Football League (NFL), and even world champions! Check out our rundown below to meet the five athletes who are bringing Cambodian sporting achievements to new heights.
Diving: Jordan Pisey Windle becomes first diver of Cambodian descent at Tokyo Olympics
It makes sense that the most successful Cambodian watersports athlete was born on the coast in Sihanoukville. Jordan Pisey Windle became the first Olympic diver of Cambodian descent, making his debut earlier this year at the games in Tokyo. He got his start in diving at just 7 years old in Florida, enrolled into an aquatic sports summer camp by his adopted father Jerry Windle. At just 12 years old he became the youngest diver to qualify for the US Olympic trials, and has since had a decorated collegiate and international career, finishing 9th in the 10-metre platform finals at the Olympics. Cambodia doesn’t yet have a long history of excellence in watersports, but we’re inspired by Jordan’s career and hope that the Swimming and Aquatics Center at the Morodok Techo National Sports Complex will help develop more athletes in the run up to the next SEA Games 2023.
Pétanque: Ouk Sreymom wins women’s individual title at Pétanque World Championships
Cambodia has a relatively short history with one of its most surprisingly popular sports, pétanque, introduced by the French about a century ago. This hasn’t hindered the Kingdom from winning big on the international stage, with veteran athletes bringing home many world titles. Amongst Cambodia’s elite is Sreymom, who won Cambodia its fifth gold medal from the Pétanque World Championships just earlier this year for the women's individual category. Digging through the archives, we were surprised to discover that Sreymom got her career start in the sport by chance. Sreymom was casually hanging out with friends, throwing fruits near the Olympic Stadium when she was scouted by a coach who took her into training, and onto unexpected success.
Taekwondo: Sorn Seavmey wins Cambodia’s first ever gold medal at 2014 Asian Games
Witnessing countless injuries that her siblings picked up through their decade-long taekwondo training, Seavmey was hardly interested in participating let alone competing professionally. This changed completely when she joined a session for fun one day and realised this was the perfect arena for her competitive nature. In 2014, she brought home Cambodia’s first gold medal at the Asian Games in 60 years since the country’s participation back in 1954.
As a recipient of the Olympic Solidarity scholarship, she understands how financial aid is essential to allow athletes to commit to their craft. This drove her to found her taekwondo club that aspires to develop young athletes with free training. “Sporting talent, no matter how great, cannot build successful international careers without the opportunities for development,” she shares, and we hope she continues to advocate for more sporting programmes in the Kingdom.
Jiu Jitsu: Jessa Khan is first jiu jitsu world champion of Cambodian descent
Born into a military family, Jessa looked to jiu jitsu as an anchor to keep her grounded, as she frequently moved around the country depending on her parents’ assignment. She began her training in Hawaii at the age of 12 and is now a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. With a Cambodian father, the Khmer-American athlete represented the Kingdom at the Asian Games in 2018 and won the country its second gold medal in Cambodia’s history of participation. Training under coach Gui Mendes, Jessa has 10+ gold medals under her belt from various national and international competitions, including earning the title as world champion in the purple belt category at the 2019 Championships held by the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF).
American Football: Jojo McIntosh becomes first player of Cambodian descent signed in the NFL
The National Football League tops many lists of largest sports leagues in the world from revenue to spectator numbers. American football is increasingly popular in Europe, although it’s main fan base of over 400 million followers comes from North America. It may be surprising then that the Washington Redskins signed the first Khmer professional footballer, Jojo Mcintosh in 2019. Known as a hard hitter with an impressive tackling record, he was recruited as a safety on the team’s defense. Not only does he proudly identify with his Khmer heritage, often encouraging more representation in sports, but he notably has Cambodian food loves including prahok and all things spicy.
Bonus - Football: Cambodian team wins at the 2016 (Homeless) World Cup
Although Cambodia hasn’t quite qualified for the FIFA World Cup yet, we do have other football wins to celebrate. Nonprofit organisation HFCA (Happy Football Cambodia Australia) have been sending a team to the Homeless World Cup since 2008. Founded in 2001, the foundation has held this annual tournament to advocate for the end of homelessness through sport. From Brazil to Scotland to Norway, HFCA has been training, selecting and funding the Cambodian national teams of 4 players (plus reserves) to compete around the world. These athletes with a history of homelessness, are offered participation in fully funded training programs held in Phnom Penh & Siem Reap. The 2016 team went on to defeat Sweden in the final to take their first trophy home, and also made the front page of the Phnom Penh Post on return!
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Many of these sporting achievements began with young dreams born from playing in gardens or parks. We feel it’s important to highlight role models across all sectors, and hope this feature can spark some new sporting dreams too. In case anyone is interested in picking up their next sports, Decathlon stocks gear for over 50+ sports including essential equipment for all of the sports above. Team Raintree encourages everyone to explore their newest store to find everything you need for your favourite sports next time you drop by. We’re excited to see more people doing sports, and hopefully many more Cambodian athletes in years to come.