For martial art enthusiasts going to Las Vegas to watch 4 days of Taekwondo from some of the world’s best fighters it’s a dream come true, and it definitely was not disappointing.
Students who are thinking of getting involved in tournaments and who are already doing the local events, but want to move or get involved in a higher level should think of attending the US Open. From the colour belts to the black belt juniors to seniors this event had fighters from 60 countries and they were top fighters. Also it was a great venue to test out the new LaJust equipment that is going to be used in most international and national events.
Shannon Condie models a LaJust electronic chest protector
The event was the largest ever held for in the USA for Taekwondo and had 1900 competitors and 500 coaches in attendence. Our Canadian athletes seem to command a lot of attention as most dominated fight after fight. The Condie sisters, Shannon and Courtney both finished on top of the game with Gold. This photographer asked in passing as Shannon finished one of her fights in less than 30 seconds how it was, she replied “I didn’t even break a sweat”. But that was not the case in all of her events. That 1st place standing had to be earned as she battled to the top.
The show stopper had to be Yvette Young. This little package of fire was a crowd pleaser with every fight she had. She put on such a show that the crowd went wild with each move she made. With only one second left in the final fight, injured, exhausted and backed in a corner, Yvette leaped in the air and did a spinning hook kick just missing her opponent. To put this in perspective she did not have to do anything to win this fight, she was already up by points and there was only one second to go, she could have avoided for the one second. But she showed all that was there that she is a warrior with the heart of a warrior and made Canada, very proud.
Yvette won Gold, MVP and Best Female Athlete, and Fighting Spirit Award at the competition, as well as the heart of all that were at this competition. I am sure we have not seen or heard the last of this Canadian athlete.
Note Ivett Gonda’s final fight seems to be as controversial as her Beijing Olympic fight. She dominated the fight and pushed it all the way but the decision went to the US to the dismay of the crowd. But attending a lot of these events has showed me that these things seem to happen when left in the hands of officials.
Yvette Yong gives a post-match interview
Maxime Potvin was also incredible in his bouts and dominated Trevor Neville from the USA. With his long reach Neville had a very hard time trying to score points against Potvin. I would suggest that Potvin will be another to watch out for, and he may be destined for the 2012 games.
In all there are so many Canadian athletes that did extremely well such as Melissa Pagnotta (Gold), Travis Ryan Fernando (Silver), Siddhartha Bhat (Silver), Reggie Ralph (Bronze), Diana Sen (Bronze), Randi Byrne (Bronze), Nathalie Iliesco (Bronze), Lauren Bower (Bronze), Ashley Kraayeveld (Silver), Stefan Bozalo (Bronze), Ivett Gonda (Silver), Francois Coulombe-Fortier (Gold) and Michael Kitschke (Gold). To see the full list of winners please visit the results on the US Taekwondo web site.
Francois Coulombe-Fortier (gold)
» Event photos (courtesy exposurenet.com)
» Event website
» 2009 U.S. Open results
Loading ...
