CHARLOTTE, USA (Jun 13, 2025) - The first day of the Charlotte 2025 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge opened in style today with Maria Clara Pacheco (W-57kg) of Brazil, Woo-hyeok Jung (M-68kg) of Korea and Wenzhe Mu (W-57kg) of China winning gold.

 

The event marks the first ever Grand Prix Challenge to be held in the USA and the first World Taekwondo event in the country since the World Championships in New York in 1993. With the Grand Prix Challenge now open to all athletes regardless of their Olympic ranking status, today’s action saw a thrilling mix of established stars and emerging talent.

 

Athletes were after more than just the medals, with the top three finishers in each category earning automatic qualification for the first leg of the Roma 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series.

 

W-57kg

In the first final of the night, Pacheco faced 2022 World Champion and seven-time Grand Prix Champion from China Zongshi Luo. Pacheco got off to an electric start taking a 12-0 lead in less than 40 seconds. Luo was unable to land a point on the evasive Pacheco who won the round 17-0. The start of the second round followed a similar pattern, with Pacheco taking an early 6-0 lead with barely 20 seconds on the clock. Once again, despite a valiant effort, Luo was unable to register a score and Pacheco won the round 12-0 to take gold.

 

In the bronze medal match the USA’s Faith Dillon faced France’s Kanelya Carabin. Backed by a noisy home crowd, Dillon managed last second winners in the first and second round to secure the bronze medal.

 

M-68kg

In the only men’s category of the day, it was Jung versus Hao-yu Hsu of Chinese Taipei. Hsu was the first off the mark taking a commanding 8-0 lead. With Jung mounting a comeback, Hsu looked like he had done enough to hold on but a head kick and gam jeom in the last second saw Jung win the first round 14-13. Boosted by his first round win, Jung came out strongly in the second. An early flurry of front kicks to the body from Jung set the tone for the round, as the Korean never looked in doubt winning the round 19-10 to claim gold.

 

In the bronze medal match it was a European clash with Spain’s Joan Jorquera facing France’s Theo Lucien. Jorquera proved too strong delivering a dominant 2-0 performance to win bronze.

 

W+67kg

The final fight of the night drew Mu against Serbia’s Nadica Bozanic. It was Mu who broke the deadlock midway through the first round. The fight then sprung into action with the two fighters drawing from their arsenal of kicking techniques. Only one point separated the pair as Bozanic won the first round 14-13. An early kick to the head gave Mu a 3-0 lead in the second round. Mu extended her lead with a series of kicks to the trunk, but three head kicks from Bozanic swung the match in her favour only for Mu to land two head kicks of her own in the dying seconds to take the match to a final round. With Mu in the ascendancy and Bozanic tiring, the Chinese was deadly in her accuracy landing a potent mix of trunk and head shots to win the round 20-0 and claim gold.

 

In the bronze medal match France’s Solene Avoulette faced Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Kristina Adebaio. With Adebaio leading, an injury to Avoulette brough about an early end to the match and awarded Adebaio the medal.

 

The Grand Prix Challenge continues tomorrow with the M-58kg, W-67kg and M-80kg categories.