International gold medal haul for Ballito taekwondo team
Representing South Africa at the GTF World Cup tournament in Sofia, Tai Smith, Tyler Kleynhans, Linda Smit and Vicki Millican brought home a number of medals.
Ballito’s best taekwondo athletes recently took on international competition in Bulgaria, bringing home four gold medals.
The team competed in the GTF World Cup tournament in Sofia, which had not been held for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic and amid rising fears of the nearby war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Tai Smith, Tyler Kleynhans, Linda Smit and Vicki Millican were not going to be put off and braved the Balkans for the challenge. In the age group categories, Smith won gold in the 12-13yr black belt sparring (42-46kg), while Kleynhans claimed victory in the 18-37yr green belt division.
Smith also grabbed bronze medals in sparring (52kg+) and patterns (boys U14), while Kleynhans added another bronze for patterns.
Owing to injuries and concerns about the war, Smit (4th Dan Veteran) and Millican (3rd Dan Veteran) were left with no one to fight.
“It was heartbreaking, because so many months of training went into it, but you never know what is going to happen on the day,” said Smit.
Both were given gold medals in their divisions for sparring and patterns.
The team thanked Master Vladimir Grachev for training them.
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