The Trunchbull

Alicia Chin

This year’s ACSC/TISSA Track & Field tournament was held at Morrison Academy, Taichung, as per usual. The team of fourteen girls finished second. Each contributed to the best of their abilities, but there was one particular girl who stood out amongst the rest—her name is Esther Kim (12). Esther excels in many sports—volleyball, track, softball, you name it. This girl is talented in so many ways.

This year, she made the decision to go to Taiwan to participate in the track and field tournament, which is a first for her. Her events were four field events, the hammer throw, discus throw, javelin throw, and the shot put, and one track event, the 100-meter sprint.

All the events which Esther participated in, she snagged a medal. She left Taiwan with four gold medals and a silver in the 100-meter sprint, just 0.3 seconds behind the first-place competitor. Esther gained the nickname “Trunchbull.” Miss Trunchbull, more commonly known as the Trunchbull, is a character from Matilda, a Roald Dahl book. (Matilda is the children’s book the Advanced Composition class is currently reading, which Esther is in). The Trunchbull is the headmistress at Matilda’s primary school. She is strong and flings kids out of the window as if she’s in the Munich Olympics once again for the hammer throw. That’s how Esther Kim got the nickname, not a particularly nice one, but it does indicate that she is strong and mighty. Whenever Esther Kim steps onto the podium, the team in snazzy blue Torpedo tracksuits will started chanting:

“Trunchbull, Trunchbull, Trunchbull, Trunchbull…”

Esther scored the team 48 points. She was the highest scoring female athlete of the tournament, and she also made the all-tournament team. She definitely did not go home empty-handed. In fact, with the 7 kg bag limit of the tiny carry-on bag, I do not know how she managed to fit her two trophies and medals in her suitcase, seriously. Besides that, she was breaking and setting records, both the ACSC/TISSA tournament’s and the school’s record.

Esther Kim was the missing piece the team needed all along.

As Coach Grad said, “I am so phenomenally proud of Esther. She has excelled throughout her entire track career, but she hasn’t been able to be formally recognized for her talent because she didn’t go to the ACSC meet in the past. This year, though, she highlighted her ‘Trunchbull’ strength by deservedly winning five medals—one being in the hammer throw, which she never practiced before the day of the event. It’s also quite impressive for a field event athlete to run a 13.8 100m dash. Her points secured the girls’ team a place on the podium.”