Chinese Olympic taekwondo gold medalist returns for Tokyo 2020

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Two-time Olympic taekwondo gold medalist (2008, 2012) Wu Jingyu of China is returning after two years of being away from competition and will aim for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, announced the Chinese Taekwondo Fan Club on Weibo on Saturday.

"Two-time Olympic taekwondo 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!" the 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 shows her gold medal after winning the women's -49kg class taekwondo tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. /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 from Serbia, an 18-year-old girl 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 is broken-hearted after losing the Trostrunde at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. /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. All-Mighty Yao posted on Weibo: "She said goodbye to the competition but she can't say goodbye to her passion. Finally, she came back!"

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."