(July 23, 2024) – With the days counting down to the Taekwondo Competition of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the eyes of the fandom and the punditry are focusing on up-and-comers and veterans and star players.

 

In the first edition of a series that will examine all eight Olympic weight classes, we shine a spotlight on the W-49kg and M-58kg categories.

 

Women -49kg

This class is a potpourri of players from established teams, up-and-coming teams - and one dark horse from a newcomer to the game.

 

China’s Qing Guo is one of the top guns in Team China, one of the world’s leading teams. She has won three Grand Prix medals – none of them gold – and silvers at the Shanghai Asia Games of 2023 and the Muju World Grand Prix Challenge of 2022 but will make her Olympic debut courtesy of the win at the Muju World Grand Prix Challenge.

 

Lena Stojkovic hails from Croatia, one of the fastest rising teams in Europe. She is no rookie: She holds a Junior Olympic bronze medal from Buenos Aires and has fought in numerous Grand Prix – albeit, without medals. She holds two concurrent world championship titles – from Guadalajara and Baku - but it remains to be seen if she can convert that success to the Olympics, which features different weight categories.

 

Spain is one of the most consistent teams in the game, and Adriana Cerezo Iglesias is a consistent Grand Prix medalist who will be hoping to upgrade the Olympic silver medal she won in Tokyo 2020 to gold in Paris 2024.

 

Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Ali M Abtuleb shot to prominence with her bronze at the Guadalajara World Championships – making her the first athlete from the kingdom ever to take home a trophy from the event. Though she is fiercely self-confident, the pressure will be on: She is her country’s first-ever female to qualify for the Olympic Games.

 

Rising Mexican Daniela Paola Souza won the World Championship crown on home turf in Guadalajara – she also won “Kick of the Year” in 2022. Taekwondo is ultra popular in Mexico and fans dream of a new female warrior to replace retired legend Maria Espinoza, who won hat tricks – bronze, silver and gold medals – at both the Worlds and the Olympics.

 

The most prominent fighter in the category is one of the most successful Taekwondo fighters of all time. Thailand’s Panipak Wongpattanakit holds two World Championship titles and won Olympic gold in Tokyo. Twice voted WT’s “Female Athlete of the Year” the Thai is the fighter to beat in Paris.

 

Making her Olympic debut in 2024 is current World Champion Merve Dincel Kavurat from Baku 2023. A consistent medalist at the Grand Prix series, she is a relatively new addition to the world-class roster of Team Turkiye, which fields one of the finest female teams in Taekwondo. She will be hoping to repeat her last gold medal win in Paris – at the 2023 Grand Prix – under the Olympic spotlight.

 

Men -58kg

The M-58kg is a tricky class to call. It is brimming with plentiful talent, with famed fighters with varied styles – but no clear and obvious favorite.

 

The Grand Palais will erupt when Cyrian Ravet stalks onto the mats. Not only is he representing Team France, he has winning form in the capital, having captured Grand Prix gold in Paris in 2022.

 

2022 World Champion Hungarian Omar Gergely Salim, one of the most crowd-pleasing fighters in the game, comes from a fighting family: His father (and coach) was the Barcelona 1992 gold medalist, and his brother competes at the elite level. The Hungarian will need at the familial support he can muster as he chases glory in Paris.

 

Defending Champion Vito Dell Aquila of Italy will be looking to make Paris 2024 his second Olympic gold after his Tokyo 2020 win. It is a distinct possibility, give his ascending fortunes: He was World Champion 2022.

 

Korea is represented by Tae-joon Park, one of the young guns in one of the world’s most formidable squads. He has shot up from the under-71 ranked players courtesy of victory at the inaugural 2022 WT Grand Prix Challenge and is current World Champion and also the MVP in Baku 2023. Paris is his Olympic debut.

 

A particularly interesting fighter is Omar Yaser Ismail: The first Palestinian ever to quality as a combat sport athlete at any Olympic Games. The up-and-comer will need to bring his A game to Paris, as he has yet to medal at an elite-level, senior event.

 

Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia, by contrast, is an experienced veteran. A consistent Grand Prix medalist his biggest achievement was bagging seized silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, an impressive feat he will be hoping to better in Paris.

 

Click here to see full athletes' list