(Photo World Taekwondo)
China’s Fu Xiaolu and Korea’s Jun Seo-bae won the first gold medals on an exciting opening day of competition at the Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix.
Xiaolu claimed her first Grand Prix medal after impressing in the W -49kg category, while Seo-bae enjoyed further success at the storied venue having won last year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge in Muju Taekwondowon in the M -58kg event.
The W-49kg podium featured four different medallists from the Grand Prix in Rome, and was topped by Xiaolu, a bronze medallist at the Wuxi 2025 World Taekwondo Championships.
He delivered an assured performance in the final to prevent the reigning world champion Liu You Yun of Chinese Taipei from scoring.
A scoreless first round was edged by Xiaolu, before she won the second 5-0 to clinch gold.
Earlier in the day, Xiaolu secured a statement victory against Egypt’s Jana Khattab, a -53kg bronze medallist at the World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi last year and silver medallist in this weight category at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome in June.
The semi-finals saw Xiaolu recover from losing the first round to overcome compatriot Jingyue Ma, while Kazakhstan’s Aidana Kumartayeva earned the other bronze medal.
An all-Korean M -58kg final saw Seo-bae return to the top of the podium on home soil. He qualified for the Grand Prix having taken gold in last year’s Grand Prix Challenge in Muju Taekwondowon, and clinched the same result against the reigning Olympic champion Park Tae-joon in a dramatic match.
Two-time world champion Seo-bae came back after losing the first round 15-9 to triumph, taking the second round 7-2 to level the match.
In an incredible third round, Tae-joon had looked set to take gold, only to be denied by his compatriot late on as Seo-bae edged the decider 14-13.
Seo-bae also beat another Korean athlete in the semi-finals in Seo Eun-su – the -54kg world champion and Roma 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix silver medallist at -58kg.
In the other half of the draw at the semi-final stage, Seo-bae staged a fine comeback to beat the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion and 2022 world champion Vito Dell’Aquila of Italy, who memorably won gold at his home Grand Prix in Rome earlier this year.
The Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix continues tomorrow with competition in the W -57kg, W -67kg and M -80kg weight categories.
