Bronze medal for Juliana

Celebrations are in order for a Cork teenager who secured a bronze medal at the ITF World Taekwon-Do Championships in Germany last week.

Juliana Kovaliova from Carrigtwohill battled her way through four gruelling rounds, beating fighters from Chile, Canada, Russia and Spain before losing out on the narrowest of margins to a German competitor who went on to win the gold medal.

The 14 year old, who only achieved black belt status in December, was given the chance of a lifetime when a last-minute space became available on the Irish team in her weight division.

Juliana, whose sister is also a black belt in taekwon-do, had a tough couple of months of training in the build up to the competition which takes place every two years.

“We are so proud of Juliana taking a well-deserved bronze medal. This is an amazing result for her at her first ever international championships. Well done Juliana, we are all very proud of you,” the senior instructor at East Cork Taekwon-Do, Richard Forde, told the Cork Independent.