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| KICK & SHOUT: Donnie Geisler, Taekwondo Jin from Angeles Image: www.pinoybigbrother.com |
Taekwondo was just an exhibition sports at the 1992
Barcelona Olympics, and the token delegation of jins sent to compete did
surprisingly well—with Bea Lucero and Stephen Fernandez winning a pair of
Bronzes. When the Korean martial arts discipline became an official Olympic
sport in 2000, a Kapampangan jin from Angeles not only made it as a member of
the 4-man taekwondo team, but also marched proudly at the head of the Philippine
delegation at the Stadium Australia as the country’s flag bearer.
Donald “Donnie” David Geisler III (b. 6 Oct.1978) , at 21
years old, and 6 ft. tall had come to the Olympics arena armed with sterling
national and international sporting credentials. The son of German-American
Donald David Geisler, and Filipina Gracia Bayonito of Bicol, he grew up in
Angeles, where his father, a former army colonel who served in Clark, opted to
settle down to raise his family.
At age 7, Donnie
took up a course in taekwondo offered by his elementary school. Mentored by a Korean trainer who taught Americans in Clark, the young
Geisler was a naturally-gifted athlete, and soon became skilled in the sport. Later, he would practice regularly in a taekwondo school put up by his uncle in Pulungbulu. He
seriously took up further training, and joined taekwondo tournaments along the
way, even while coursing through Chevalier high school and later, in college, where he made it to the school's pioneer taekwondo varsity team.
By the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, athletes like Monsour del Rosario, Arnold Baradi and Roberto Cruz helped promote the popularity of the sport, through
their podium victories at the Asian Games, World Taekwondo Championships and
the SEA Games.
In 1996, at age 18, Donnie was sent to Barcelona,
Spain to compete in the very first World Junior Taekwondo Championships. The
lanky jin pulled in a surprise by winning a historic Bronze medal. Two years later, he won a pair of Silvers---first in Asia’s premiere
sporting event—the Asian Games in Bangkok, and at the 1998 World Cup Taekwondo
Championships in Germany.
He would win the first of three Southeast Asian Games
Gold, in Brunei Darussalam in 1999. At the star of a new millennium he won a Silver in his weight class at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Hong
Kong. In between, he managed to finish his Arts and Letter degree in Legal
Management from the University of Santo
Tomas in 1999.
With such solid accomplishments, Donnie was expected to
spearhead the debut campaign of the small Philippine team and do well in Sydney. He was
entered in the Individual events (Men’s Welterweight 80 kg. class). In a
tightly-contested first round match against Sweden’s Roman Livaja, both jins
scored 4-4, but based on superiority, the Swede prevailed.
But Donnie’s Olympic dream did not end in Sydney. He
would qualify again as one of 3 Filipino jins in the next 2004 Summer Olympics
in Athens, Greece—where the hallowed Games began. This time, he faced the formidable
Turk, Bahri Tanrıkulu, whose sister was an Olympian medallist. Geisler made a
good account of himself, and fought like a pro. But like what happened in
Sydney, the match ended in a tie—9-9, and once again, based on superiority, the
Turk was declared winner (he would advance to the finals to win Silver).
As the best-scoring non-winner, Donnie was called for a
repechage—for a final chance to advance to the next round. His opponent was Hichem
Al-Hamdouni from Tunisia. Bad luck hounded Donnie when, in the course of the
fight, he dislocated his ankle and suffered
a double tendon injury, thus putting him out of contention and ending his
quest for Olympic glory.
His post-Olympics career continued in the next few years
with better results. In 2001, he was at the 21st Southeast Asian Games, where he
won a Silver medal. In the succeeding editions in Vietnam (2003), and the
Philippines (2005), he proved his superiority in the region by winning 2 Golds
in a row. At the 2002 15th
Asian Taekwondo Championships in Jordan, he added a Bronze medal to his
collection. His last competition was at the 2007 FAJR Cup in Iran, where he had another
Bronze finish.
Believing that
“all work, and no play” makes for a dull life, Donnie jumped into the
showbiz bandwagon and joined the Celebrity Edition of the hugely-followed Pinoy
Big Brother TV reality show in 2007, along with his actor-brother, Baron Geisler. For the
next 50 days, Donnie gamely joined in
the fray, accomplishing strange tasks, making strategic alliances with fellow
PBB members and surviving eliminations.
Unfortunately, on the 56th day, Donnie got
evicted from the PBB house, concluding his brief showbiz fling. But he stayed long enough to meet Jen da
Silva who would become his wife and mother of his daughter, Frankie. The young father also has a son, Robbie, from
a previous relationship.
Donnie continued his love for the sport by founding the Donnie
Geisler Taekwondo Training Center in 2009 which coaches and teaches children of
all ages—including those with special needs. The center has a branch in
Sindalan, San Fernando.
The national athlete, who is also a licensed taekwondo instructor
and international referee, is also a respected coach. He was a former coach of the
Philippine National Team, and currently is the Head Coach of Colegio de San Agustin
in Makati, and the British School in Manila. His checkered career in taekwondo
may have ended but his love for the sport that have earned honors for himself
and the country continues with unabated passion.
SOURCES:
Image: www.pinoybigbrother.com
Image: www.pinoybigbrother.com
Donnie Geisler Oly FB
Page: https://www.facebook.com/donnie.geisler
Donnie Geisler Taekwondo
Training Center: https://www.facebook.com/pg/donniegeislertaekwondo/about/?ref=page_internal
Donnie Geisler Bio, Stats
and Results/Olympics at Sports-Reference:
Pinoy Big Brother:
Celebrity Edition 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinoy_Big_Brother:_Celebrity_Edition_2
Donnie Geisler taekwondo interview video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGCsb2B1_wY
