We continue our look into the MSA Alumni who are a possibility of being a part of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is now less than 1 year away. This week we look at the sport of Taekwondo.
Reba Stewart (MSA class of 2019) and Leon Sejranovic (MSA class of 2020) are considered genuine contenders for a spot on the Australian team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. For Reba it would be her second Olympics after being in the Australian team for Tokyo in 2021. As a 20-year-old Reba suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of a Polish fighter who was ranked number 6 in the World. While Reba’s confidence grew as the match went on, the damage on the score card was done early by her opponent, and the final score of 7 points to 2 wasn’t a true reflection of the entire bout. Reba spent 4 months recovering from a back injury in the middle of 2022 and since then has been right into competition, recently winning a gold medal at the Kimunyong Cup in Korea and Bronze at the Korean Open.
Leon is shooting for his first Olympics and has also been in great form in the past 12 months. He has won two gold medals in the past 2 weeks in Korea at the Korean Open and the Kimunyong Cup. But the highlight for Leon was winning a bronze medal at the Taekwondo World Championships in Buku, Azerbaijan. It was the first medal for Australia at a World Championships for 10 years and the first Australian Men’s able-bodied athlete to medal at the World Championships for 18 years. The 20-year-old defeating the World number 1 on his way to the Bronze. Read more here.
There are some major competitions coming up for both athletes in the next 3-4 months including:
September 1-3 – Grand Prix, France
October 10-12 – Grand Prix, China
October 14 – National Championships
November 28-29 – Pacific Games – Solomon Islands
December 2-3 – Grand Prix, Great Britain
Both Reba and Leon are back at MSA and have been working as assistant coaches in 2023 in our Taekwondo program. They are a great inspiration to our current group of Taekwondo Athletes.
The Olympic selection process for Taekwondo runs from January 2024 to the final qualifying event in early April. We wish them all the best in the next 9 months.