Hansel and Gretel, the mascots of The World Games 2017 got a unique opportunity during the IFMA Muaythai World Championships in Minsk, Belarus last week: they were taught to fight Muaythai by the world’s best athletes!
First Hansel and Gretel were getting to know the athletes and learning about the sport. Thai athlete Rathchadaphon Wihantamma took them to the Warm-Up Area to learn some stretches.
Then champions from the host nation Belarus – Dmitry Valent and Vital Hurkou – took them for a real Muaythai lesson.
On the morning of the Finals, the energetic pair wanted to pull on their own specially-made gloves. Gretel was especially excited and said: “I’ve been practicing a lot! I was told I have great power in my right-kicks and I should try to use that. I was shown how to kick and make my leg really long, it’s called a roundhouse kick. I don’t think Hansel is ready for me!” Hansel was getting ready on the corner-stool, and he looked a bit worried by this.
Gretel has really improved, her footwork is very good and she is even doing some elbow moves. Hansel has also clearly been practicing. But suddenly Gretel raised her leg and swung in a beautiful arc towards Hansel’s torso. Boom! Over he went.
Poor Hansel, completely winded. He had to lie down until his breathing returned to normal. But he’s a good sport really and he soon stood up and shook Gretel’s hand. “Well done, that was a good shot. Maybe we’ll just watch for the rest of the day,” he said. Gretel patted him on the shoulder and said: “Thank you! And the really fun thing is we’ve made so many new friends, we can all hang out together in Wroclaw soon.”