Pourrahnama among Most Successful Para Taekwondo Athlete: IPC
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has reported that Mahdi Pourrahnama from Iran is among the most successful Para taekwondo fighters.
The biggest landmark came in January 2015, when the sport received Paralympic status by joining the program at Tokyo 2020. Virtually every major event since the announcement has attracted a record number of athletes and nations.
The first Para taekwondo Worlds were held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2009. The eighth World Championships took place in 2019 in Antalya, Turkey.
Unlike Olympic taekwondo, where South Korean athletes have dominated the Olympic medal table, Para taekwondo has world champions from nearly every continent. Iran, Mongolia, Turkey and Russia have been traditionally strong.
Brazil, China, Japan, and Mexico are seeing more recent successes.
Taekwondo made its Olympic debut as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Para taekwondo was developed in 2005, with an initial focus on kyorugi. Para poomsae followed in 2014.
Para taekwondo is an adaptation of its Olympic counterpart with one notable exception – kicks to the head are forbidden for safety.
Kyorugi athletes often have upper limb impairments, making blocking far more difficult.
When the sport makes its Paralympic debut at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, 72 kyorugi fighters from the K44 and K43 classifications will compete in unified 12-person brackets according to weight and gender.
Denmark’s Lisa Gjessing, Iran’s Mahdi Pourrahnama, the USA’s Evan Medell, Great Britain’s Amy Truesdale, and Mongolia’s Bolor-Erdene Ganbat are some of the sport’s most successful fighters and have all qualified for the 2020 Paralympic Games.
