Danielle Pelham (Bothell, Wash.) won the gold medal Friday at the WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, defeating Thailand's
Sarita Phongsri in the finals, 5-4.Competing in her first world championships, Pelham, 24, bested a field of 53 fighters. She won her opening match of the day over Egypt's
Mariem Ahmed by knockout (she was leading 7-0 at the time), and then posted a 12-4 win over the Ivory Coast's
Banassa Diomande. Pelham advanced to the quarterfinals by scoring a punch in overtime against Senegal's
Faniang Dieye, and then reached the medal round with a 7-6 victory over Croatia's
Jelena Ivancic.She qualified for the gold-medal match with a 6-5 win over Guatemala's
Euda Carias Morales in the semifinals. Morales took home a bronze medal as did Korea's
Eun-Kyung Kwon.
The victory by Pelham gives the U.S. a total of two gold medals in the first three days.
Steven Lopez(Sugar Land, Texas) won the men's welterweight gold medal on Wednesday, becoming the first person ever to win five world titles. In the team standings after three days, the U.S. women sit in fourth place and the U.S. men are in fifth.
JASON ACCEPTED TO BERKELEY
Congratulations to Jason McEuin, who will be attending
UC Berkeley in the Fall. We are so proud of your accomplishments, and your hard work and dedication has finally paid off. Way to go Jas, we love you.
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CONGRATULATIONS
WASHINGTON GIRLS!!!!!
Our very own Talina Le just made the United States National Team!!
Talina , daughter of Master Tuoi Le took over the fin weight slot on the National Team. Team McEuin is so very proud of Talina. We have watched her grow up into this wonderful athlete. WOW!! Way to go Talina. We love you.
Danielle Pelham, also from Washington took over the bantam weight slot on the U.S. Team. Great job Danielle!!!
The 16-member team will compete at the WTF World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, October 14-18.
On behalf of Team McEuin, we wish both girls the best in Denmark, and know you will both make WA proud.
WA GIRLS ROCK!!
