History was made on Sunday as 18-year-old Anastasija Zolotic became the first American woman to win gold in taekwondo. Zolotic defeated Tatiana Minina of Russia by a score of 25-17 at Makuhari Messe Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
This year’s Olympic taekwondo tournament was a bit chaotic. In the round of 16, two-time gold medalist Jade Jones fell to Ah-reum Lee of South Korea. With that said, Zolotic of Colorado Springs faced stiff competition to get to the mountaintop. She defeated two top-five competitors, Hatice Kubra Ilgun of Turkey and Minina of Russia, to get her first gold medal.
Anastasija Zolotic’s gold medal performance is hopefully the first of many. at 18 years old, Zolotic has the potential to compete for medals in 2024 at the Paris games and 2028 at the Los Angeles games.
With Anastasija Zolotic’s gold medal performance, Team USA moves to third in the medal race. In total medals, America ranks second with 12 total medals. Hunting for gold medals, the United States ranks third behind Japan and China.
In the coming days, Team USA will have the opportunity to pick up medals in women’s 3×3 basketball, softball and a variety of swimming events.
Anastasija Zolotic just became the 1st American woman to win Olympic gold in taekwondo ?@USA_Taekwondo x @TeamUSA x #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/oGWjQfvLJr
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) July 25, 2021
