On the last of the tournament featured with three weight categories – Women’s under 67kg, Women’s over 67kg and Men’s under 80kg, eight countries won at least one quota place – Turkey, Germany, Slovenia, Ukraine, Serbia, Armenia, Netherlands and Spain. Among them, Slovenia is the only country that won two places today.

Arman Yeremyan has become the first Armenian taekwondo athlete to compete in the Olympic Games by winning the gold medal in Men’s under 80kg weight category. During the European Qualification Tournament, two countries – Serbia and Armenia - seized the last chance to go to London to realize their Olympic dream for the first time.

Medal Winners of Competition

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Through the six qualification tournaments – a world and five continental, 120 quota places were awarded to 58 countries. With the four places assigned to the host country, Great Britain, taken into account, the figures stand at 59 for the number of qualified countries and 124 for allocated quota places.

Europe has reaffirmed its dominant position in taekwondo as its 18 member countries have secured 39 places out of 124 for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

No of Qualified Countries and Quota Places by Continent

Continent: Asia; No of Qualified NOCs: 14; No of Places: 35

Continent: Pan America; No of Qualified NOCs: 14; No of Places: 26

Continent: Europe; No of Qualified NOCs: 18; No of Places: 39

Continent: Oceania; No of Qualified NOCs: 4; No of Places: 8

Continent: Africa; No of Qualified NOCs: 9; No of Places: 16

Click here to see detailed list of NOCs qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games.

On top of the 124 there remain last four places which will be allocated through tripartite consultation among the WTF, IOC and Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC), so called “wild card”.

A total of 128 taekwondo athletes will compete for their Olympic dream in London from August 8 to 11, 2012.

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Press Release WTF

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Serbia gained two quota places for the first time to make its first Olympic debut in London. Damir Fejzic defeat his Polish opponent, Michal Loniewski to win the gold medal in Men’s under 68kg division. Dragana Gladovic beat Suvi Mikkonen of Finland and won the first place in Women’s under 57 kg division.

The other seven countries – Italy, Turkey, Finland, Poland, France, Ukraine and Slovenia – won one quota place respectively.

Slovenia, Ukraine, and Poland won their first ticket to London today, while the other three, Italy, France and Turkey, secured two in total, respectively, as of today.

Bahri Tanrikulu of Turkey, who took the first place in Men’s over 80kg division, is foreseen to compete in his 3rd consecutive Olympic Games in London. He won silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

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Click here to see the full result of competition!

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Alexey Denisenko, Russia - Gold medalist in Men's -58kg.

On the first day of competition featured with Men’s under 58kg and Women’s under 49kg matches, the host country, Russia, has won two more tickets to London, acquiring four quota places in total. This is the largest number of places that it has gained in its Olympic taekwondo history. It had won two places in Men’s over 80kg and Women’s over 67kg at the World Qualification Tournament held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2011. Russia had sent two athletes to the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games each, while none of Russian athletes made it for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Alexey Denisenko of Russia beat the incumbent world champion, Joel Gonzalez of Spain, in Men’s under 58kg division to take first place, getting enthusiastic applause from his home fans. Kristina Kim defeated Ganna Soroka of Ukraine by 8 to 4 in Women’s under 49 kg division and grabbed the ticket to London.

Spain and Germany newly joined the group of qualifiers for London 2012. Spain won two quota places, shedding bad memories in Baku in which it had failed to win any place. Brigida Yague in Women’s -49kg won gold medal, while Joel Gonzalez won silver medal.

Sumeyye Manz of Germany took 2nd place in Women’s under 49kg weight category and became the first athlete qualified for the London 2012 in the her team.

Uno Sanli of Sweden beat Andrei Rotaru of Moldova and took the 3rd place in Men’s under 58kg, gaining one more ticket to London for his home country. Sweden had gained one place in Women’s under 67kg division at the World Qualification Tournament in Baku (Click here to see Competition Day 1-Result).

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The upcoming event is expected to be very exciting as it was proven at the World Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan in June 2011 where European countries dominated the medal tally gaining 11 of the 24 quota places.

The traditional favorites that underachieved in Baku such as Spain, Turkey and Germany are expected to maximize this last opportunity in Kazan. Turkey won only one quota place in Baku last year, while Germany and Spain failed to win any place.

Moreover, many top-tier athletes will be competing in Kazan. For example, Joel Gonzales of Spain who ranks top in the Men’s under 58kg of the WTF World Ranking and won the gold medal in 2009 and 2011 WTF World Championships will be competing.

Another noticeable athlete is Pacal Gentil of France who has won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The seasoned veteran will compete in the upcoming tournament with the hope of qualifying for his third Olympic Games.

Click here to see the Athletes List with Ranking for the European Qualification Tournament. (The list may be subject to change)

Through the six qualification tournaments including the upcoming European tournament, the list of 120 qualified athletes for the London 2012 Olympic Games will be finalized. On top of this, the host country, Great Britain has been automatically awarded four places, while the other four places will be allocated through tripartite consultation among the WTF, IOC and Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC), so called “wild card”. A total of 128 taekwondo athletes will compete for their Olympic dream in London from August 8 to 11, 2012.

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* Athletes List by weight category *

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Sheffield’s heptathlon queen Jessica Ennis, pin up girl for the 2012 London Olympics manages it – and so does Doncaster’s super athlete Sarah Stevenson.

Sarah, a world champion Taekwondo exponent, was put through her paces at a media event at Sport City, Manchester yesterday.

The 28-year-old, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games found the circuit training hard going and decided to treat herself to a little luxury soon afterwards.

She Tweeted: “Sat in hairdressers, in need of a pampering after a hard circuit. Sweat was pouring!”

Sarah, a former pupil of Don Valley High School in Scawthorpe, was controversially overlooked in the all-male shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. But she was appointed an MBE in the New Year Honours for services to martial arts.

Recently she wrote: “People often ask how I got into taekwondo, but it’s always been in my family.

“My brother did it when he was young, so I just joined in. It wasn’t like I was raised on a diet of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies and influenced to emulate them, nor was it a case that, like the Karate Kid, I was getting bullied so I started taekwondo to protect myself.

“I never really did anything else and never looked back.”

The European Taekwondo Championships are being held in Manchester on May 3-6.

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Source: The Star

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The trip is being sponsored by the National Sports Commission (NSC) in line with its objective of presenting a medal winning team at the Olympics.

South Korea is the home of Taekwondo and the duo are expected to receive the best of training during their stay.

Chukwumerije and Adam sealed their tickets for the Olympic Games during the African qualifier held in Cairo, Egypt two weeks ago.

The former was a bronze medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

By StarAfrica.com

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In the fourth and final day of competition, the Junior B concluded with the Female Light Middle, Female Middle, Male Bantam, Male Middle and Male Light Heavy divisions being contested.

After’s competition saw the Men’s and Women’s Division 3 get underway with a single elimination followed by a double elimination to determine the finalists to contest for an Olympic spot with Sebastien Michaud and Karine Sergerie, respectively.

In the Men’s Division 3, finalist Olivier April-Lalonde lost an exciting match in the final seconds to Michaud who will be attending the Olympics for the second time in his career. Michaud was overjoyed in the moments following his victory: “I was watching the other fighters so I know what I had to do to win. My coach and I strategized and knew the drop kick could work so when it did [in the final seconds] I was really happy.”

In the Women’s Division 3, it was Melissa Pagnotta who met Karine Sergerie in the final. Pagnotta won the first match to force a second match with Sergerie seeing the winner earn an Olympic spot. Karine won with a decisive 6-3 scoreline in the final to secure a place on the Olympic team for the upcoming Summer Games.

“It has been a really long, hard year for me health-wise so I’m really relieved and happy to have won today and am hoping to keep improving in the months leading up to the Olympics,” explained an elated and emotional Sergerie.

Francois Coulombe-Fortier secured an Olympic team spot by winning the Men’s Division 4 national championship at Taekwondo Canada’s Junior Nationals and Senior Olympic Team Trials.

After his emotional reaction in the moment of victory, Coulombe-Fortier was calm and focussed as he reflected on his success. “It is still a long road ahead to prepare for the Olympic Games. There was a lot that went into getting here so there was a big release [of emotion] when I won.”

The 2012 Canadian Olympic Taekwondo Team is now established with three members determined this weekend. Francois Coulombe-Fortier of Quebec in Men’s Division 3, Sebastien Michaud of Quebec in Men’s Division 1 and Karine Sergerie in Women’s Division 3. Notably, all three Olympic athletes are coached by Alain Bernier.

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Taekwondo Canada Press Release

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