Pleasanton Student Wins Gold Medal At International Taekwondo World Championship

PLEASANTON, CA — An Amador Valley High School student won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the International Taekwon-Do Federation Championship in Barcelona.

Apoorvaa Muruganathan was one of roughly 2% of black belt applicants who were accepted onto Team USA. In Barcelona, she competed against athletes rom 44 different countries and brought home four medals:

• Gold medal in power breaking (team)
• Silver medal in patterns (team)
• Silver medal in specialty breaking (team)
• Bronze medal in individual sparring

Apoorvaa is a second-degree black belt who has been studying taekwondo for seven years, and karate for four years before that. After obtaining her ITF black belt, she was invited to try out to compete for Team USA with the World Championships. She practiced with the Junior Girls Team, who managed to win one gold and two silver medals despite living at different ends of the country.

They won medal in power breaking (breaking as many stacked boards as possible with a single strike); specialty breaking (breaking boards with complex jumps or flying kicks at a specific height or distance); and patterns, pre-arranged sequences of movements against imaginary opponents.

Back from the championship, Apoorvaa is working toward her third-degree blackbelt, and also hopes to teach self-defense to children with special needs, particularly autism. "I strongly believe that systematic learning in martial arts can help them improve focus, relieve stress, and feel more confident and empowered," she said.

"Taekwondo is more than just a sport; it's a way of life," she continued. "Competing at the World Championships allowed me to push my limits and connect with incredible athletes from all over the world. We fought tooth and nail to make it onto Team USA, and once we were a team, we formed a powerful bond to represent our country. The connections we made with other competitors after the tournaments were truly amazing. My philosophy is to have a dream and not stop until you reach your goal, but to also have fun and help others along the way."