Tokyo Olympics: Paige 'McFierce' McPherson battles her way to fourth in taekwando

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Paige McPherson, left, in one of her taekwondo matches in Tokyo.

Paige McPherson fell just shy of bringing home her second Olympic medal in taekwondo, but her fourth-place finish in the women’s 67 kg. class capped an impressive showing for the women of Team USA. The match also may mark the end of the Filipino American's competitive career.

"After this I’m actually transitioning out of the sport. It was kind of a sentimental day and emotional day overall just because it being the Olympics and also it possibly being my last competition eve,” McPherson said.

A day earlier, 18-year-old Anastasija Zolotic became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport with her victory at 57 kg.

PAGE McPHERSON

McPherson, also known as “McFierce” was competing in her third Olympic Games and looking for her second medal. Now 30, McPherson won bronze in 2012 and finished 11th in Rio in 2016. 

Seeded fifth in Tokyo, she got through the round of 16 with an 8-5 win over Farida Azizova of Azerbaijan, then defeated Turkey’s Nur Tatar, the fourth seed, 3-1 in the quarterfinals. A 15-4 loss to No. 1 Matea Jelic of Croatia in the semifinal meant foiled McPherson’s hopes of making it to the gold-medal match and set up the bronze medal contest against Egypt’s Hedaya Wahba. 

McPherson, from Sturgis, South Dakota, took a 5-3 lead midway through the match but Wahba jumped out to an 11-5 lead and then a head shot made it 17-6. The gap was too great for McPherson to overcome.

"I’m disappointed,” McPherson said. “I had that match and I should have listened to my own gut at the end of the day and I chose to listen otherwise, and it cost me the match.”

McPherson lost the semifinal match against eventual gold medal winner Matea Jelić, of Croatia. The U.S. Olympian then faced off against Hedaya Wahba, of Egypt, in one of two bronze medal match-ups, which she also lost.

Taekwondo is one of a handful of Olympic sports that award two bronze medals. Other sports that offer two bronze medals are boxing, judo and wrestling.

Even though she lost, she won over the hearts of the Miami community, where she lives, and grateful for the support of her family in South Dakota,

“It really is an honor to be here again for the third time. Nobody has ever done it and I was so close to another medal, but at the end of the day (I'm) just super thankful," said the Filipino American.

To “all my friends and family from there and even from around the U.S and the world. Just seeing those encouraging comments, messages and calls, I’m truly grateful,” McPherson said.

“I wouldn’t be here without you guys. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring a medal, but I did give it my all.”

Tokyo Olympics: Afro Filiipino fighting her way to medal podium in tae kwon do

Paige McPherson represents so much and so many at the Olympics.

Going to her third Olympics, Paige McPherson’s dream is still alive and kicking

McPherson, who is of Black and Filipino descent, has one of the most compelling stories among the athletes. She is competing in tae kwan do, seeking to improve on the bronze medal she won in London in 2012. The Tokyo Olympics is the third Games in which she represented the U.S. in the ancient sport.

With a bronze medal on her Olympic resume, McPherson was expecting to medal in Rio in 2016 but, to her dismay, she lost her first match.

“It was absolutely devastating,” McPherson told the Miami Herald. McPherson, an Afro Filipino, was born in Texas and raised in South Dakota as an adoptee in a multi-racial family. “That hardship in Rio made me realize how I needed to train, both physically and mentally, which propelled me to where I am today.

“I was numb for a very long time, went into a period of depression," the 30-year old said. "You’re finally there, representing Team USA, and in the smaller sports like ours, unlike swimming, gymnastics, track and field, the only way to get recognized is if you get the gold medal or at least make the final. To dedicate your life four years, finally get that moment and lose your first fight, knowing that nobody is going to see you on TV or know who you are, it’s really hard.”

She was adopted by the McPherson's when she was only four days old. Her young birth mother from the Philippines knew she could not take care of her newborn so she opted to have her adopted.

Upon meeting her birth mother, she told McPherson that she chose the McPherson's because they promised to do everything they could to help Paige achieve her dreams. The McPhersons also had already adopted several children of different ethnic backgrounds.

Along with her birth mother, she also met half-siblings Denise and Blake.

“It was surreal to meet people that look like me, all four of us have the gap between our front teeth,” McPherson said. “I know I’m Filipino and know I’m black but to be able to meet my Mom, who is Asian, it gave me comfort in my identity. Growing up in South Dakota, I had no opportunity to get to know my culture of being Filipino or even being African American. To actually meet my mom, ... I was like, `Wow.’”

“And here I am, going to my third Olympics,” McPherson told the Herald. “I attribute this to my parents who were willing to take me in and give me everything. I also have to thank my birth Mom for choosing my parents because I wouldn’t have this life had she had not sacrificed and given me up to have a better future.”

Though she grew up “essentially in a white culture” in South Dakota without the typical links to her ethnic roots, McPherson told NBC that her parents were open about the differences among their children and celebrates them. For her, tae kwon do was something she excelled in, but also felt like “an extension of (her) family.” 

Now as an adult living in the multicultural city of Miami, she’s embraced her Filipino side wholeheartedly and credits close family friends with nurturing her connection to the culture.

As an Afro Filipino, as a woman, as a South Dakotan, as an American, McPherson represents so many people and so much more. Speaking to USA Today, McPhreson said: "I am a person of action. I usually let my actions speak louder than my words." And, so it is time.