8th World University Taekwondo Championship
Patras, Greece - June 2nd to 5th, 2004
Korea Still Leading
The town of Patras met the challenge in the best possible way with an all-time record participation for the World University Taekwondo Championship.
The Athletes' Oath
Patras, Greece was the site of the eighth World University Taekwondo Championship early in June of 2004. 2004 was quite a year for Greece, which also brilliantly hosted the Olympic Games in August. Patras joined in the fun, organizing several matches for the Olympic football tournament. Patras is a university town and a historical city recognized for the many international sports events organized there, as well as a very important economic and cultural centre in the Northwest of the Peloponnese. In fact, in 2006, Patras will be the Cultural Capital of Europe for a year.
The national "Dimitrios Tofalos" sports centre, a magnificent sports complex that seats 5000 and offers every modern facility for this kind of event, with the added advantage of being very close to the centre of town, was chosen as the venue of the World University Championship in Taekwondo. The very attractive opening and closing ceremonies took place in this superb setting to the great satisfaction of the student athletes.
Record Participation
The Taekwondo competition at the Universiade in Daegu, Korea (2003) was not an easy act to follow. Taekwondo was an optional sport at the Universiade that attracted a large number of participants in Korea. The competition was such a success that FISU technical delegate Ken Min thinks there is hope that one day Taekwondo will be on the list of mandatory sports for the Universiade.
But Patras met the challenge brilliantly with the highest participation ever recorded for a World University Taekwondo Championship. Thirty-six countries were represented by 133 men and 87 women, making this championship a new reference. This does not really come as a surprise – the popularity of Taekwondo has not stopped growing since the first edition in 1986 in Berkeley in the United States and it has now become a fully-fledged University sport.
As usual, the handsomest set of medals went to Korea: five gold, four silver and five bronze. But these exceptional results shouldn't cloud the outstanding achievements of other countries. At one point, Korea left next to nothing for its opponents (like in 1996 in St. Petersburg with 10 gold medals out of 16), but that time is over. Other countries have now developed programmes to promote this sport and the policy is beginning to pay off.
Internationalization
Countries like Chinese Taipei, Spain, Iran, Greece, France, Italy and Germany or the United States now boast excellent contestants. Participation in this championship was in fact at an exceptional level. No fewer than 60 athletes who came to Patras also took part in the championships organized by the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). Frenchman Ludovic Vo, for example, was among them. He came home from Patras with a gold medal in the 58 kg category.
Gold Medallist Men's -58kg Ludovic VO (FRA)
This is one to add to his impressive collection: he was the French University champion five times, twice he won the World University Championships, he took a bronze medal in the Daegu Universiade. He was champion of France 10 times, champion of Europe, a bronze medal winner at the WTF World Championships and finally, World Champion at the military games – a first-rate athletic career for this 26-year-old student of "Public Administration" at the Cergy Pontoise university. There are many similar examples in Taekwondo, like in judo and karate, which are also very popular with university athletes. Participants at Patras will long remember the warm welcome they got in Greece, and the wonderful facilities made available to them for this competition. Next stop is Valencia, Spain in 2006 for the upcoming World University Taekwondo Championships.
Medallists Women's -63kg
Results
Women's -63kg 1) Su Li-Wen - TPE 2) Manaz Funda - TUR 3) Kalliopi Papaioannou - GRE 3) Ha Seung MI - KOR
Medallists Women's -67kg
Women's -67kg 1) Lallana Ibone - ESP 2) Sarantoula Pagonaki - GRE 3) Kim Ji Hye - KOR 3) Nicole Bright - USA
Organizing Committee
c/o Ministry of Nat. Education & Religious Affairs 15 Mitropoleos St. Office N° 514 - for EATE Fititiki Merimna 10185 Athens - Greece phone: (30.1)3228011 fax: (30.1)3248264 e-mail: eate@ypepth.gr
Results
Men's - 54kg 1) Han Chan Seak - KOR 2) Sajadi Majid - IRI 3) Reginaldo Dos Santos - BRA 3) Vincente Muriel - ESP Men's - 58kg 1) Ludovic Vo - FRA 2) Lee Sun Jae - KOR 3) Nikos Zikos - GRE 3) Chumu Yen - TPE
Medallists Men's -62kg
Men’s -62kg 1) Khoadad Behzad - IRI 2) Choi Kwang Young - KOR 3) Josu Velasgo - ESP 3) Wenceslau Ferreira Marcio - BRA
Men's -67kg Medallists
Men’s -67kg 1) Erdal Aylanc - GER 2) Alireza Nassrasa - IRI 3) Tseng Ching-Hsiang - TPE 3) Shin Young Deok - KOR
Men's -72kg 1) Jason Neville - USA 2) Bibak Asl Mehoi - IRI 3) Kim Ki Pyo - KOR 3) Christian Seijo - ESP Men's -78kg 1) Konstantinos Gkoltsios - GRE 2)Kim Jin Wook - KOR 3) Ali Taji - IRI 3) Ismail Meneske - TUR Men's +84kg 1. Nikolaidis Alexandros - GRE 2. Nauaei S. Mehdi - IRI 3. Hall Nathan - GBR 3. Yun Suk Hwan - KOR
Medallists Women's -47kg
Women's - 47kg 1) Elaia Torrontegui - ESP 2) Choi Ju Young - KOR 3) Hayrive Gunes - TUR 3) Amanda Thome - USA
Women's -51kg 1)WU YEN-NI - TPE 2)Ergen UZKU - TUR 3)Jennifer Delgado - ESP 3)Danielle Pelham - USA
Women's -55kg Medallists
Women’s -55kg 1) Lee Hye Young - KOR 2) Lin Hsin Mien - TPE 3) Tamara Gorjup - SCG 3) Lara Crystal - USA
Women's -59kg Medallists
Women’s -59kg 1) Cristina Corst - ITA 2) Chung Y Chen - TPE 3) Kusgu Gulsah - TUR 3) Naila Gumbatova - RUS
