Taekwondo athlete Wu wins first championship title since giving birth

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China's two-time Taekwondo Olympic champion (2008, 2012) Wu Jingyu is returning after two years of being away from competition and bagged her first champion title for the senior female -53kg class at the 7th Fujairah G1 Taekwondo Open in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday.

After beating two opponents with big scores and being benefited from a quitting rival, Wu easily led the final by smashing teammate Liu Kaiqi 26-2. "Now, she is aiming for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo," her own Taekwondo club said on Weibo on Saturday.

"Two-time Taekwondo Olympic champion Wu Jingyu is coming back. She will attend women's -53-kilogram class of the Fujairah Open 2019. Let's cheer the Super Kicker!" China's Taekwondo Fan Club posted on Weibo.

Born in 1987, Wu won the first Asian Games Taekwondo gold medal (-47kg class) for China in Doha, Qatar, in 2006 at the age of 19. Two years later at the Beijing Olympics, Wu claimed her first Olympic title (-49kg class) and retained it in London in 2012.

Wu Jingyu of China (L) celebrates victory in the women's -49kg Taekwondo final match against Brigitte Yague Enrique of Spain at the London Olympic Games at ExCeL in London, England, August 8, 2012. /VCG Photo

However, on her journey to the third straight champion in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Wu suffered the biggest loss in her career. First, she was beaten by Tijana Bogdanovic, an 18-year-old girl from Serbia who actually watched Wu's videos on YouTube to help her train. Then in the Trostrunde, Wu lost to Patimat Abakarova from Azerbaijan and was knocked out of the tournament.

Though Wu said that she would see the loss as a treasure after the match, she admitted: "You can't imagine what losing means to me." After Rio, Wu went back to Beijing Sport University and worked as a teacher. Though she never announced retirement, the truth was that Wu never attended any competition since Rio.

Wu Jingyu and her husband at their wedding ceremony in Weifang, Shangdong Province, east China, May 25, 2014. /VCG Photo

In July 2017, Wu gave birth to her daughter, who was given the English name "Gloria" by Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). When Gloria was one-month old, Bach visited Wu at her home and brought some Olympic souvenirs for the baby. The IOC boss checked Wu's physical condition and encouraged her to take on the challenge of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Wu's fans were excited to see their Taekwondo goddess return. Chinese sports celebrity Yao Ming posted on Weibo: "She said goodbye to the competition but she can't say goodbye to her passion. Finally, she came back!"

An anonymous user on Tencent News wrote: "It does not matter what you can achieve because every Chinese citizen should learn from your spirit of never giving up."

Source(s): Ecns.cn