(Photo World Taekwondo)
A captivating second day of the Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix saw Brazil’s Maria Clara Pacheco triumph again, followed by gold medals for Belarus’ Raman Turavinau in the men’s -80kg and China’s Jiani Xing in the women’s -67kg.
All three gold medal matches proved exciting encounters, and were a testament to the level of performance produced by the world’s leading athletes across the three weight categories.
Pacheco continued her recent dominance of the women’s -57kg event by defeating the reigning Olympic champion Kim Yu-jJin of Korea in the final – just as she did at last year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge in Muju, the Wuxi 2025 World Taekwondo Championships and the Roma 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix.
The two have emerged as standout performers in this weight category, and both qualified through their performance at the Grand Prix Challenge at this venue last year. On this occasion, it was Pacheco who once again got the better of her opponent, taking the first round 5-0 in the final and only conceding two points late on as she won the second 8-2.
Pacheco’s semi-final was also a repeat of her match at that stage in Rome, although she was pushed hard by Morocco’s Amina Dehhaoui, fresh from winning silver at the Taranto 2026 Mediterranean Games. Both rounds were edged by Pacheco after finishing level at 4-4.
On the other side of the draw, Yu-jin lost the first round of her semi-final against Croatia’s Nika Karabatić, but came back to progress. The bronze medal marked Karabatić’s best result to date at a World Taekwondo Grand Prix.
Turavinau followed up his European Championships gold earlier this year with a maiden World Taekwondo Grand Prix victory, winning a closely contested men’s -80kg final against USA’s CJ Nickolas.
Nickolas won gold at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge in Muju last year, and looked set to make a strong start in the final as he aimed to repeat the feat, only for Turavinau to score late in the first round to pinch it 4-3.
The second round was equally close, but a head kick from Turavinau proved decisive and gave him a 3-0 lead to defend, before he eventually closed out a 3-2 win with the late concession of a Gam-jeom to seal Belarus’ first-ever World Taekwondo Grand Prix gold.
Turavinau had also beaten reigning world champion Henrique Marques Rodrigues Fernandes of Brazil in the semi-finals, while Nickolas triumphed in an all-American encounter with Isaiah Young, who clinched his first Grand Prix medal.
The women’s -67kg saw a completely changed podium from the first World Taekwondo Grand Prix of the year in Rome, topped by Xing who claimed her first gold on this stage.
Xing won a thrilling three-round final against Spain’s Lena Moreno Reyes, who went one better than her bronze at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge in Muju last year.
Xing pounced late in the first round to win it 2-0, but Moreno Reyes hit back by edging the second that had finished 3-3.
That forced a decider, and Xing finished with a flourish for an impressive 9-2 triumph which secured gold.
Xing had earlier beaten Korea’s Min Ju Kwak in the semi-finals, while Moreno Reyes overcame Croatia’s Dora Meštrović.
