Sixteen athletes will fly the flag for Australia at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships after winning their division at the recent Senior World Taekwondo Championships selection event in Penrith.
Young guns Jake Buhagiar from Halls Taekwondo in Victoria and Matthew Summerfield from Rawlins Taekwondo in Western Australia made their mark on the senior ranks, each securing a spot on Australia's National Team.
Summerfield broke Australia's 14-year junior medal drought in 2022 after he fought his way to the semi-finals at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships to secure bronze.
Buhagiar blitzed the backend of the 2022 season with gold medals at the WT Presidents Cup, Oceania Championship, Tahiti Open and Australian Taekwondo National Championships, form that helped Buhagiar move into the categorised ranks as an Emerging athlete for 2023.
Summerfield, who was recently announced as a squad member for the National Performance Centre's Taekwondo Program, will be joined by fellow squad members and now national teammates, including Saffron Tambyrajah (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Stacey Hymer (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Reba Stewart (Halls Taekwondo, VIC), Bailey Lewis (City West Taekwondo, VIC), Tom Afonczenko (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Leon Sejranovic, (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Liam Sweeney (One Taekwondo, QLD) and Rebecca Murray (Edge Taekwondo, QLD).
Rounding out the team of 16 are Juliet Lahood (Global Martial Arts, NSW), Arash Mozhdeh (Mozhdeh Martial Arts, VIC), Emily Stellino (Global Martial Arts, NSW), Adam Meyers (The Story Centre, VIC), Molly Parks (Mozhdeh Martial Arts, VIC), and Amber Heslop (Forza Taekwondo, ACT) who will all make the trip to Baku in May.
The World Taekwondo Championships showcase the best senior black belts from 212 Member Nations of World Taekwondo. Since the first World Taekwondo Championships in 1973, Australia has medalled 19 times and is in the top 30 countries on the all-time medal tally.
The last Australian to medal at the Senior World Taekwondo Championships was Victorian Carmen Marton, with the three-time Olympian winning gold in 2013.
The World Taekwondo Championships will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 29 - June 4, 2023.
Applications are currently being accepted for team coaches to support the Head Coach during the World Championships tour - applications for this role close on March 4 at 5:00 pm (AEDT). To learn more and apply, please click here.
The Senior World Taekwondo Championships Selection Event was proudly supported by the Penrith City Council and hosted at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre.
Australia enjoyed an impressive campaign at the WT President’s Cup, with six athletes stepping onto the podium and delivering strong performances across the tournament. Winning two silver medals and four bronze, the Australian team showed its quality, resilience, marking their territory on home soil.
Australia’s para taekwondo program will be represented by two athletes on the Gold Coast this month, with Shrijana Ghising and Evie Ruffle set to contest the Australian Open, WT President’s Cup and Oceania Championships in an important competition block ahead of the Para World Championships later this year.
The Gold Coast is set to host two major World Taekwondo sparring events over one massive weekend! From proven senior campaigners to rising prospects pushing into the upper tier, here are 10 Australian athletes to watch when the action begins on the Gold Coast.
