This year’s Taekwondo World Championship, held in Wuxi (China), is already historic for Brazil. This Monday (27), Henrique Marques from Rio de Janeiro became the first man in the country – and the third athlete, being the second in this edition – to win a gold medal in the event.
Fifth place in the world rankings in the under-80 kilograms (kg) category, Henrique secured the unprecedented title, beating a local athlete in the final, the Chinese Qizhang Xiang. Previously, the 21-year-old fighter defeated Kelvin Calderón Martinez, from Cuba, Faysal Sawadogo, from Burkina Faso, CJ Nickolas, from the United States, and Artem Mytarev, a Russian who competes as a neutral athlete due to the country’s suspension for the invasion of Ukraine.
The victory in Wuxi crowns Henrique’s comeback after two difficult years. In 2024, the fighter faced the death of his father, Ari Fernandes. In 2023, he almost left the sport when he discovered a cardiac arrhythmia, which led him to the operating table. The fighter discovered taekwondo in a social project in Porto de Caixas, a poor neighborhood in Itaboraí (RJ), the city where he was born. At the Paris Olympics, in France, the athlete stopped in the quarterfinals.
Also on Monday, Brazil was represented at the World Cup by Júlia Nazário from Santa Catarina (category up to 46 kg) and Raiany Fidelis from Minas Gerais (over 73 kg). Both won their debut matches, but fell in the second round. Júlia overcame Uzbek Madina Shoniyozova, but could not resist Dzejla Makas, from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Raiany, who started the journey by beating Qatari Noor Nazar Mohammed, lost the next fight, to Spanish Tania Etcheverria.
Last Friday (24), Maria Clara Pacheco from São Paulo had already made history by winning the competition between athletes up to 57 kg, repeating the feat of Natália Falavigna from Paraná, the first Brazilian athlete to win world champion, in 2005. This Tuesday (28), Brazil has two more fighters fighting for medals in China: João Victor Souza Diniz (up to 68 kg) from Santa Catarina and Milena Titoneli from São Paulo. (up to 67 kg). The latter has a bronze from the 2019 edition, in Manchester (England).
