CHARLOTTE, USA (Jun 15, 2025) - The Charlotte 2025 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge came to a breathtaking close this evening with You-yun Liu (W-49kg) of Chinese Taipei and Simone Alessio (M+80kg) of Italy winning the gold medals on offer.

 

Over the course of the competition more than 350 athletes from 44 countries and the Refugee team and Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) showcased the best of Taekwondo. For the first time the competition was open to all athletes, regardless of Olympic ranking, allowing for a diverse mix of established athletes and rising stars. With the promise of qualification to the Roma 2026 Grand Prix for the top three finishers in each weight category, athletes battled it out for more than medals.

 

W-49kg

The first final of the night was between You-yun Liu of Chinese Taipei and Nodira Akhmedova of Kazakhstan. Liu opened the scoring with a well-executed kick to the head but was unable to remain on her feet and conceded a gam jeom. The score remained static at 3-1 for much of the round before Liu landed another head kick and kick to the trunk in quick succession to win the round  8-1. In the second round it was the turn of Akhmedova to take the lead as she caught Liu with an early front kick to the trunk. But Liu replied in kind to even the score. A strong kick to the head restored Liu’s lead and despite Akhmedova’s best efforts Liu proved elusive and won the round 5-3 to claim gold.

 

In the bronze medal match Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Milana Bekulova faced Ying Hsuan Huang of Chinese Taipei. Bekulova was convincing in the first round but dominant in the second landing a multitude of head kicks to secure the bronze.

 

M+80kg

It was the responsibility of Caden Cunningham of Great Britain and Simone Alessio of Italy to bring to an end this fantastic Grand Prix Challenge with the final match of the competition. It was a heavyweight clash in more ways than one with both fighters Grand Prix gold medallists and Alessio a two-time World Champion.

 

With only 15 seconds remaining of the opening round it was just gam jeoms that separated the fighters, but Alessio took hold of the tie landing kicks to the trunk to win 7-4.  The second round followed a similar pattern as both fighters were trying to find their range, reluctant to leave themselves exposed to a counter. The last 30 seconds saw an increase in the tempo as both fighters were able to land kicks to the trunk.  But once again it was as Alessio who came out on top to win the gold.

 

Pasko Bozic of Croatia and Ivan Garcia of Spain battled it out for bronze. Garcia fought valiantly but was not able to break down Bozic’s defence who was able to steadily build points with well-timed kicks to the trunk. Bozic won the match 2-0 to secure bronze.