The Para Grand Prix in Paris confirmed one thing – Para Taekwondo is as competitive as ever.
It also showed that nations have some work to do to catch up to Para Taekwondo powerhouse Turkiye.
Turkiye won seven medals from 10 events at Para Taekwondo’s biggest stage, including three gold from four finalists. The team was beaming with pride at the post-event awards ceremony.
“We trained all summer”, a Turkiye coach told World Taekwondo, “We started months ago. We did everything – to improve their health, their psychology, their technique, their knowledge of opponents. It paid off today.”
The Turkiye medal parade started when Mahmut Bozteke came back from an 8-point deficit in the last minutes to top Brazil’s Paralympic champion Nathan Torquato in the -63 kg final.
“It wasn’t really my plan”, Bozteke told World Para Taekwondo about going down on points before coming back. “I felt the pressure [of being behind on points], so after the time out – I just gave it my all.”
Teammates Meryem Cavdar and Gamze Gurdal also added golds for Turkiye – Cavdar with her second straight Para GP title, while Gamze edged Brazil’s Paralympic bronze medalist Silvana Cardoso to win gold and flip the results from the first Para GP.
Fatih Celik also made his first Para GP final, before falling to Mexico’s Paralympic champion Juan Diego Garcia Lopez in the -70 kg final.
Source and image: www.worldtaekwondo.org
