Canada placed first overall in the senior division at the 3^rd Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships hosted by Australia last week.

Along with nine gold medals, four other official distinctions were earned:

Other notable accomplishments were made by Natalie Simon, who along with Courtney Condie managed to win gold in both Senior and Junior divisions.

photo: Sean Vrtacic

photo: Joseph Lau

» 3rd Commonwealth Championships Complete Results

Combat Canada’s Video Gallery is online and is growing continuously!

Now it’s easy to share photos and videos using the Public Upload Gallery. With no video time limits you can upload entire matches, and always maintain control of the files you’ve uploaded.

WTF Taekwondo Pattern videos (Taegeuk 1-8) have been added for reference only.

“On Wednesday Sept 20th in the early afternoon Mitchell passed away after fighting for over a week. Mitchell will be remembered as the nicest person with a heart bigger than the entire universe. Most of all I will remember him as the greatest big brother a person could ever ask for. He will forever live in my heart and will take a part of me with him always. He will always be my hero. “
– George Koh

Mitchell had just returned to competition and showed quite well in middle weight. On the side, he was building a career in acting, having appeared in almost 10 movies and various TV shows/commercials. In Taekwondo, Mitchell was a fierce competitor. Always a contender for the gold medal, Mitchell made Team Canada in 1997 and medaled on numerous occasions at the National Championships and Olympic division championships. Mitchell was no stranger to the podium having won nearly 40 Taekwondo tournaments. Anyone who knew Mitchell can attest to his passion for Taekwondo, and the ladies. Mitch leaves behind his loving parents, brother, and sister. We’ll miss you Mitch.

“It’s all about the chicks and jackets” – Mitchell Koh

» Memorial website

As if medaling in six out of seven divisions wasn’t enough, the official results (see “Mission Accomplished for Qualifier Team”) show that Canada and Venezuela are the only two countries to qualify all divisions for the 15^th Pan American Championships. It was Cuba that ended up with the highest medal count.

p>This means Canada is poised for even greater success at the Games this July, since we will have greater representation than most other countries across the divisions.

The team had a goal and they made it happen. Outstanding results by Canada’s Pan Am Qualifier Team has won Canada the right to compete in every weight class (4 male and 4 female, Olympic divisions) at the 15th Pan American Games this July in Brazil.

The Qualifier was a prestigious tournament in itself, attended by nearly 20 countries over the past four days in Cali, Columbia. Athletes were fighting in double-elimination format to place in the top six of their division in order to win their country a spot at the 2007 Pan American Games. As it stands Canada should be entitled to send a full eight-person team in 2007, although the competitors who will fill those divisions are yet to be determined.

» Event photos in media gallery