She took on the world and won! But Auckland teenager Crystal Cook’s journey to taking out a gold medal for New Zealand in Muay Thai boxing wasn’t an easy one. The 13-year-old’s proud mum, Christine Jager, 58, from Whangaparaoa, in Auckland, adopted Crystal when she was only four months. Soon after taking the little baby in, she realised something was wrong. “She wouldn’t settle, didn’t feed properly and wouldn’t sleep,” recalls Christine, who has five other children and four grandchildren. “She still only gets about four hours sleep a night – she’s like an Energizer Bunny.”
Crystal was eventually given a medical diagnosis of attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and severe dyslexia, caused by foetal alcohol syndrome, and Christine gave up work as a courier driver to look after her daughter full-time.
Proud mum Christine’s seen a huge change in her daughter’s schooling since she took up kickboxing.
“Crystal has always struggled,” she says. “Even in kindy, she was that child who would climb the fence and run away.” And despite having a teacher’s aide since then, Crystal’s schooling continued to be a trial. “She would keep tapping her pen and be sent out of the classroom for being disruptive, but it was because part of her brain has just not developed,” explains Christine. However, after her diagnosis and since starting at Whangaparoa College, Crystal is doing well in classes designed for those with dyslexia.
“It’s made a huge difference,” smiles her mum. “She can do her work with her peers so she’s not isolated.” But the biggest change came when Christine took Crystal to a kickboxing class
at the age of nine. “I took her to the gym to watch, but the trainer asked her to jump in and have a go,” remembers Christine. “She was so shy, I ended up pushing her in and she never looked back. She loved it.”
And with kickboxing came confidence and talent to boot! Her proud mum grins, “She didn’t have any confidence before. Now she’ll give anything a go. It’s her lifeline. She breathes it.”
To gain expertise in the sport, Crystal joined a gym, where she’s trained by the World Muay Thai Council’s NZ president Victoria Nansen six days a week, sometimes up to five hours a day. Now Crystal’s kickboxing at a top level and often beats competitors much older than her. Last year, she qualified to attend the Muay Thai World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, where she took out the gold medal for her weight and age group.
Knockout blow
Crystal’s enthusiasm bubbles over as she tells Woman’s Day that she won by gaining a perfect score in the final. “I was just concentrating and not even looking at the score, so when the round finished, I looked up and saw I was winning,” she beams.
“I was so happy! I got my medal and stood up in front of everyone. It was amazing. Then I was called to go up again because I’d won a trophy too.” On August 17, while Christine and Crystal were immersed in the action at the kickboxing stadium, there was a bomb explosion at the Erawan Shrine just down the road, which tragically killed 20 people and injured 125.
“We heard the ambulances and were told there was a bomb,” tells Crystal. “We got the train back to the hotel and then found out a bomb had also been discovered on the train that we’d just been on! After that, all the contestants travelled together and were counted everywhere we went to make sure we were all safe.” Despite her brush with terror, the tournament was a dream come true for the teenager.
“It was fun,” she grins. “I got to meet people from all over the world. We taught people from Russia how to do the haka!” The prestigious event, which was attended by the King of Thailand and drew more than 2000 participants from 102 countries, was made possible for Crystal with the help of monthly sausage sizzles, plus grants from Variety – the Children’s Charity, Rotary and Lions clubs.
Now the fundraising has started all over again to help Crystal defend her World Championship title in Sweden this year. Excited by the prospect, Crystal stops our interview to tell her mum to hurry up and organise another sausage sizzle. Christine gives her a squeeze and assures her, “Don’t worry – we’ll get there!” Smiling, Christine tells us, “I only want the best for her.”
For Crystal, her long-term goal is to run her own gym. “It’s my dream,” she says. “I want to help somebody like me and show them how kickboxing helped me.”
Crystal proudly holds her medal and trophy, which she won at the Muay Thai World Championships in Thailand last year.
