CHARLOTTE, USA (Jun 14, 2025) - The second day of the Charlotte 2025 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge delivered more thrilling Taekwondo action as Jongmyeong Kim (M-58kg) of Korea, Lena Moreno (W-67kg) of Spain and CJ Nickolas (M-80kg) of USA claimed the golds on offer.
Korea ended the night with three silver medals to add to their gold in what was a very successful day for the nation.
Once again the competition promised medals and qualification to the Roma Grand Prix next year for the top three fighters in each weight category,
M-58kg
The first final of the evening was an all Korean affair with Jongmyeong Kim and Jun-seo Bae set to go head to head. With both fighters from Korea, only one was guaranteed qualification for the Roma Grand Prix. However, ahead of the fight Bae was forced to withdraw due to injury leaving Kim to take gold and the qualification place.
In the bronze medal match, Tamirlan Tleules of Kazakhstan faced Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Vito Dell’Aquila of Italy. Tleules won the match 2-0 to record his first ever medal in a major World Taekwondo competition.
W-67kg
On the women’s side, the W-67kg final pitted Lena Moreno of Spain against Min-ju Kwak of Korea. The opening exchanges were tense as both fighters tried to find a break through. A gam jeom broke the deadlock in Moreno’s favour but a front kick to the trunk soon after gave Kwak the lead. A head kick looked to have secured the round for Moreno but a last second kick to the trunk earned Kwak the win 5-4. The second round was decided by head kicks as Moreno landed three to establish a clear lead 9-1. There was little to separate the two in the final round. Moreno picked up from where she left off landing a kick to the head only for Kwak to respond with a kick to the trunk. Tense final moments saw both athletes penalised with gam jeoms but Moreno held on to win 5-3 and take gold.
In the bronze medal, it was USA’s Kristina Teachout versus Croatia’s Doris Pole. Dole took the first round but Teachout battled out to win the match 2-1 much to the delight of the home crowd.
M-80kg
The final match of the night paired the USA’s CJ Nickolas against Korea’s Geon-woo Seo. The fight promised much and did not fail to deliver. Both fighters started explosively landing a flurry of kicks to the trunk. In a breathless display of high risk turning kicks, both fighters gave away gam jeoms before the round transitioned into a straight fight of trading blows to the trunk. The high scoring round finished 23-18 to the American. An excellent combination gave Seo an early lead in the second round. Nickolas pulled himself back into the round with a spectacular spinning kick to the trunk. Then once again the fighters treated the crowd to a relentless back and forth of kicking prowess. Seo was unwaveringly consistent landing 9 kicks to the trunk, but it was Nickolas’ variation which proved the difference as he won the round 20-22 to win the match.
Chile’s Joaquin Churchill and Kazakhstan’s Batyrkhan Toleugali fought in the bronze medal fight. With nothing between the two fighters in the first round, Toleugali won on registrations but managed a more convincing victory in the second round to take the medal.
The Grand Prix Challenge concludes tomorrow with the M+80kg and W-49kg.
