All the Action, All Day Long

It was another day of thrills and spills, spins and flips, tricks and kicks as the Goyang 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships stormed on.

At the end of the day, Korea was leading the medal tables with 16 golds, followed by Chinese Taipei with four, and Spain and USA with three each.

The day’s schedule was not as packed as the multiplicity of finals that were contested on Day 2. However, the atmosphere was even more electric.

Day 3 was a Saturday. The venue, the KINTEX Exhibition Center in Goyang, is a popular spot for weekend getaways by Seoulites.

And the COVID pandemic is – at long last – fading away. This combination of circumstances saw the public flood into the venue, filling the seating, raising the volume and granting the athletes a crowd to perform to.

Among many, many notable performances a very special one was delivered by one of the great – and longest serving - characters in the World Taekwondo family.

Sister Linda Sim won gold in the Recognized Individual Female Over 65 category. A great result for the high-kicking nun, and a tribute to the longevity that Taekwondo instills.

“I feel on top of the world!” the Singaporean said. “This is my dream come true.”

Her prior best performance had been a bronze at the Taipei 2018 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.

Team Korea Wins 12th Consecutive Poomsae Title

World Taekwondo has held a total of 12 World Poomsae Championships since the inaugural event in 2006 - and Team Korea, following their victory in Goyang today, has won every one of them.

At the close of the Goyang 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, with four days of competition over and done, Korea held 20 gold medals, followed by Chinese Taipei with four, then Spain and USA with three each. The top teams of the event were named as Korea, followed by Chinese Taipei, USA, Spain and Iran.

In addition to the countries mentioned above, Denmark, Iran, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and World Taekwondo each took home one gold medal. There was a wide medal spread. Overall, 24 of the 62 teams which came to Goyang went home with medals.

The end of the championships also saw various MVPs being named.

The Male MVP for recognized Poomsae was Wanjin Kang of Korea, who won the Recognized Individual Male Under 30 category. The Female MVP for recognized Poomsae was Eva Sanderson of Denmark, who won the Recognized Individual Female Under 30 category.

The Female MVP for Freestyle Poomsae was Yeeun Cha of Korea, who took the title in the Freestyle Individual Over 17 division. The Male MVP for Freestyle Poomsae was Nam-hoon Lee, also of Korea, who captured the Freestyle Individual Male Over 17 title.

The Best Coach, Male Team, was Korea’s Myunghwan Cha. The Best Coach, Female Team, was Jinho Lee of Chinese Taipei.

The Best Male Referee was Yong-won Jeong of Korea. The Best Female Referee was Nesibe Altun of Turkiye.

The winner of the Active Participation Prize was Team Colombia. The winner of the Best Fighting Spirit award was – to nobody’s surprise – Team Ukraine.