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THE LIMA 2019 CALLAO VENUE SAYS GOODBYE TO PARA TAEKWONDO WITH UNCONDITIONAL AUDIENCE
One day before the end of the Games, the final events—full of kicks and emotion—of the Korean sport were held in the Callao Regional Sports Village.
The great Callao Regional Sports Village, one of the most important and impressive sport venues of Lima 2019, hosted a glorious session of Para taekwondo on its last day of competition.
Throughout two sessions filled with adrenaline, the first from 09:00 to 12:45 and the second from 15:00 to 18:30, an unconditional audience encouraged our representatives, Shiroy Rentería (men’s k44 -75 kg category) and José Navarro (men’s K44 +75 kg category), as well as the other representatives of the continent with great enthusiasm.
Rentería managed to dispute, without success, the bronze medal against Argentinian Juan Samorano, after he was defeated 25-03 by the Costa Rican Andrés Molina in his first fight. However, in the repechage round, he beat USA’s Michael Kacer 27-15.
The Para athletes who finally reached the medal table: Mexican Juan García (gold), Cuban Adrián García (silver), Argentinian Juan Samorano (bronze), and Costa Rican Andrés Molina (bronze).
As for the category in which Navarro participated, the ones who reached the podium were: USA’s Evan Medell (gold), Mexicans Francisco Pedroza (silver) and Edgar Torres (bronze), and USA’s Johnny Birch (bronze).
In the women’s K44 +58 kg category, which was also disputed today, the Para athletes who won medals were: Mexican Daniela Martínez (gold), and Brazilians Debora Bezerra (silver) and Leylianne Samara (bronze).
It is worth mentioning that in these Lima 2019 Games, Para taekwondo had its Parapan American debut; only one year before being included as a Paralympic sport in Tokyo 2020 for the first time.
In Lima 2019, the Para taekwondo competitions gathered a total of 47 Para athletes from 16 countries. The medals won by Angélica Espinoza (gold) and William Fernández (bronze) stay at home.