Brazilian Maria Clara Pacheco, 22, won this Friday (24) the world taekwondo title in the 57 kg category, in Wuxi, China.
By overcoming Korean Yu-Jin Kim and confirming her favoritism in the competition, Maria Clara once again put Brazil at the top after 20 years. The last time this happened was in 2005, with Natália Falavigna.
Falavigna was also Brazil’s first Olympic medalist in taekwondo, with a bronze won at the Beijing Games, in China, in 2008, in the over 67kg category.
Leader of the ranking before the start of the tournament, the Brazilian reached the final after eliminating the current world champion, the Chinese Luo Zongshi, 4-0. In the decision, against Kim Yu-jin, she secured a 2-0 victory and won the second gold medal in Brazil’s history.
“It’s an emotion that I can’t explain, it’s the first time winning such an important title, which was my goal for the year. I’m very happy and I wanted to thank everyone who was in the crowd,” he said.
In her campaign, she started the journey against the Portuguese Leonor Correia. She defeated her opponent 2-0. Then, she beat Spain’s Laura Rodriguez Marquina 2-1 and North American Faith Dillon 5-0, guaranteeing a place in the semifinals.
