Para Taekwondo (Photo World Taekwondo)
The Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix brought together 119 athletes from 27 countries at one of the sport’s most iconic settings, with the gold medals shared by different countries across all 10 events.
In the first final of the day, Australia earned their first gold medal at a major Para Taekwondo event since 2010, as Shrijana Ghising clinched victory in the W K44 -47kg against Thailand’s Khwansuda Phuangkitcha, who matched the silver she won at the Grand Prix in June.
Sabir Zeynalov of Azerbaijan made it back-to-back Grand Prix triumphs in the M K44 -58kg event, beating Brazil’s Gustavo Antony Czerniak Ruppel in the final.
Top seed Sürenjav Ulambayar of Mongolia prevailed in a standout W K44 -52kg final, the Paralympic champion winning against European champion and Roma 2026 World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix gold medallist Ana Japaridze of Georgia.
Mahmut Bozteke of Türkiye followed up his success in Rome with another gold in the M K44 -63kg, overcoming five-time world champion and Paris 2024 silver medallist Bolor-Erdene Ganbat of Mongolia.
Another second successive Grand Prix gold was secured by Silvana Mayara Cardoso Fernandes of Brazil in the W K44 -57kg, as she saw off the reigning Paralympic champion Yujie Li of China.
Mexico’s Juan Diego García López, a gold medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, returned to the top of the podium in the M K44 -70kg at the expense of Italy’s Antonino Bossolo, who matched the silver medal he won in Rome.
Christina Gkentzou of Greece continued her fine year in the W K44 -65kg, adding to golds at the European Championships and the Roma 2026 World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix by defeating Thailand’s Awipa Phuaphan.
The M K44 -80kg final saw Iran’s Mahdi Pourrahnama overcome Kazakhstan’s Nurlan Dombayev.
The top two seeds went head-to-head in the W K44 +65kg final, with Uzbekistan’s Guljonoy Naimova earning a dramatic victory against Paralympic champion Amy Truesdale of Great Britain to add to her gold won in Rome.
The final event saw a repeat of the Paris 2024 Paralympic final in the M K44 +80kg. On this occasion it was Russia’s Aliaskhab Ramazanov who prevailed, edging past Great Britain’s Matt Bush. Silver medallist Bush had won golds at the European Championships and the Grand Prix in Rome earlier this year.
Tomorrow, Muju Taekwondowon will host the first of three days of competition at the second World Taekwondo Grand Prix event of the year, featuring the W -49kg and M -58kg weight categories.
