Great Britain’s Beth Munro won her second gold medal this year in Manchester, while four fighters appear to be in the driver’s seat for Paris 2024 gold after winning their third straight Para Grands Prix titles.
Home is where the gold is for Great Britain’s Beth Munro.
For the second time in 2022, the Paralympic runner-up got the better of Denmark’s Paralympic champion Lisa Gjessing on home soil.
To the thrill of the home crowd, and the nation watching live on BBC, Munro repeated the feat by winning her first Para Grand Prix title 9-4 over Gjessing after defeating the Danish legend for the European Championship in Manchester in May.
“It’s always great competing on home soil”, Munro told World Para Taekwondo. “Having family and friends there to cheer you on is great. They are like the third person on the mat driving you on”.
The victory prevented Gjessing – the reigning Paralympic and four-time world champion – from winning her first Para GP and throws the -65 kg wide open.
Munro showed her mettle – and her growing experience – in a tense semi-final win over Paris Para GP champion Ana Carolina Silva de Moura (BRA). In a battle of exciting new fighters, Munro’s experience at high levels shone through as she leveled the match late before punching her ticket to the final with a golden point kick.
“I feel like I’m growing as a Taekwondo athlete and gaining more skills over time”, she said. “There’s still more to learn, but I’m gradually getting better … I kept my mind focused [today] and knew that I could still win it”.
The three Para GP winners this year – France’s Djelika Diallo, Silva de Moura, and Munro – are neither the Paralympic champion (Gjessing), nor the reigning world champion, Turkey’s Secil Er.
“I think my category at the moment is wide open and it’s very close at the top”, said Munro. “It’s good because it keeps you on your toes and keeps you fighting for those much-needed [ranking] points for Paris [2024]”.
Teammates Amy Truesdale and Joe Lane added a silver and bronze for Great Britain, respectively, to grab a medal of each colour for the hosts.
Truesdale fell to her Paralympic champion rival Guljonoy Naimova (UZB) in the final, while Lane fell to eventual champion Asad Toshtemirov (UZB) in the semi-final, failing to match the success he found while winning gold at home at the 2022 European championship.
Source and image: www.worldtaekwondo.org
