Over a thousand registrations representing ten nations confirmed the success of the participants in the International Taekwondo ITF Challenge held at the Paladisfida in Barletta. In addition to the large participation of Italian athletes from various regions of Southern Italy, to make the event even more prestigious, athletes from Spain, Estonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Bosnia, Moldova and also the United States and France also arrived in the Bat.
68 gold medals for the Italians, with the home nation finishing in first place in the competition’s medal table. Second place for Greece with 15 gold and third place for Moldova with 10 gold. In the overall haul, the tricolor took to the podium 229 times, because in addition to the golds, 71 silvers and 98 bronzes were won, demonstrating how the Italians are acquiring an international dimension such as to be able to compete even with the most highly rated nations in this discipline.
“A success on all fronts – commented the organizer and vice president of the European Taekwondo Federation, Ruggiero Lanotte -. The event becomes increasingly international, thanks to the large presence of athletes from different countries, even from the United States. The test that saw prize money for the winners worked, which is another reason to see the world’s most highly rated athletes at work in the next edition. Beyond this, however, we received compliments from all the participating companies and this makes us proud and makes our territory grow more and more through sport”.
Among the competing companies, Federico II di Svevia di Barletta stood out with 33 gold medals, making it the best among all those competing last weekend. Trinitapoli’s Coreanteam also did well with 9 gold medals, tied with Neapolis Makedoniki. Also on the top step of the podium 8 times was Reasport from Canosa, 6 gold for Team Pistillo from Spinazzola, 5 gold for Revenge from Andria, 4 for Yul Gok from Margherita di Savoia, 3 for Team Pistillo from Minervino Murge . Master Mario Bogdanov, vice president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation ITF and president of the Pro-League Committee, was also present at the two-day Challenge in Barletta.
