Congratulations to Year 1 student, Olivia, who was recently named champion of the Sparring Juniors 15-17yr Female category at the Taekwondo World Championships.
Olivia, who is currently studying A-levels in Geography, Business Studies, and 3D Design, started practicing taekwondo just three years ago. She was encouraged to start competing by her coach, who saw that she had clear potential, so started participating in British competitions to build experience.
Olivia found out she would be competing in the World Championships a year in advance, and she embarked on a rigorous training programme to build and maintain her fitness.
Along with approximately 40 other athletes representing England, Olivia travelled to Croatia for the two-day World Championship competition.
Olivia, who competed on the second day of the competition, said “The atmosphere was amazing, and the community of people was really nice and supportive. I loved meeting people from other countries and watching them compete because it was nice to see everyone’s different styles.
To win felt amazing because it had been a year in the making. It made all the training worth it!”
Olivia is now looking towards the next British Open Championships, and would like to get involved with officiating too.
For more information on this story please contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
