ROMA, Italy (June 4, 2026) – Gold medals were shared across nine countries at the Roma
2026 World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix, with only Uzbekistan winning more than once in an
impressive showcase of the sport’s growing global strength at the Foro Italico.
Mexico’s Claudia Romero clinched the first gold medal of the day, recovering from losing the
first round to win the k44 W -47kg final against Thailand’s two-time Paralympic medallist
Khwansuda Phuangkitcha.
Paris 2024 bronze medallist Sabir Zeynalov of Azerbaijan triumphed in the K44 M -58kg,
defeating Korea’s Pyeong Gang Lee in two high-scoring rounds. Lee had beaten the
Paralympic champion Asaf Yasur of Israel in the semi-finals.
In a repeat of the K44 W -52kg final at last month’s European Championships in Munich,
Georgia’s Ana Japaridze once again edged out Türkiye’s two-time Paralympic medallist
Meryem Betül Çavdar, winning the two rounds 2-0 and 6-2.
Paralympic champion Mahmut Bozteke of Türkiye took K44 M -63kg gold, winning the semi-
final against the 2025 Para Taekwondo Male Athlete of the Year Ayoub Adouich of Morocco
and the final against Spain’s Joel Martin Villalobos.
An all-Brazilian K44 W -57kg final went the way of two-time Paralympic medallist Silvana
Mayara Cardoso Fernandes, who lost the first round to Maria Eduarda Machado Stumpf but
went on to take the second and third for gold.
The home crowd had been hopeful of a gold medal to celebrate at the World Para
Taekwondo Grand Prix as Italy’s Antonino Bossolo won the first round of the K44 M -70kg
final against Japan’s Shunsuke Kudo, but his opponent hit back and won the following two
rounds to triumph.
Back-to-back European champion Christina Gkentzou of Greece topped the podium in the
K44 W -65kg, claiming an impressive victory over Paralympic gold medallist Ana Carolina
Silva de Moura of Brazil by winning the two rounds of the final 4-2 and 7-6.
Uzbekistan’s Kudrat Muhammadiev won an entertaining K44 M -80kg final, triumphing in
three rounds against Korea’s Jeong Hun Joo, a two-time Paralympic medallist.
His gold was followed by another for Uzbekistan, as Guljonoy Naimova sealed victory in two
rounds against Russia’s Elena Savinskaia in the K44 W +65kg final.
The World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix concluded with a high-profile K44 M +80kg final
between two reigning Paralympic champions – Matt Bush of Great Britain and Asadbek
Toshtemirov of Uzbekistan, who was victorious in the -80kg at Paris 2024 and has since
moved in weight category. Toshtemirov had hoped to round off the day with a third
successive gold for his country and won a high-scoring first round. However, Bush was
leading in the second round when Toshtemirov sustained an injury which resulted in the
contest being stopped.
After the competition, World Taekwondo President Dr Chungwon Choue presented Lisa
Kjaer with her certificate and badge, having been appointed to the World Taekwondo
Council. Kjaer is a four-time world champion who won Paralympic gold for Denmark at Tokyo
2020 in the K44 W -58kg weight category and bronze at Paris 2024 in the W -65kg.
