Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a resolution seeking to commend 16-year-old Tachiana Kezhia Mangin for ending the Philippines’ 28-year wait for a gold medal at the 2024 World Taekwondo Junior Championships.
Mangin secured victory in the women’s -49kg category, earning the country’s second gold medal in the competition since its inception in 1996 and becoming the nation’s first-ever female gold medalist in the junior division.
“She deserves commendation from the Senate for putting the country back on the taekwondo map.”
“She deserves commendation from the Senate for putting the country back on the taekwondo map and for exemplifying positive values of unwavering resilience and commitment to excellence at such a young age,” Estrada said in his Senate Resolution No. 1210.
“Her impressive accomplishment embodies the immense potential of the new generation of Filipino athletes and heralds the bright future for the Philippines.”
“Mangin brought great pride and honor to the nation with her momentous victory. Her impressive accomplishment embodies the immense potential of the new generation of Filipino athletes, and heralds the bright future for the Philippines,” the veteran legislator said.
The Grade 12 senior high school student from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) prevailed against Judith Cordoba Heredia of Spain and Natkamon Wassna of Thailand to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, where she dominated against Habiba Wael Emerah of Egypt.
The Filipina jin entered the finals match after Lamprini Anna Asimaki of Greece withdrew from the semi-finals due to an injury.
Mangin secured the historic gold medal against crowd favorite, South Korea’s Kim Hyang-Gi after surviving four successive fights in one day.
The last podium finish for the Philippines was made by Alex Borromeo who won the championship title in Men’s -47kg during the inaugural edition in 1996 in Barcelona, Spain.
Mangin previously clinched the gold medal in the Daegu 2024 World University Taekwondo Festival last July. The young prodigy also won a bronze medal in the 2019 World Taekwondo Cadet Championship, and two Asian Championship bronzes in the 2019 cadets division and 2022 youth division.
The World Taekwondo Junior Championships is a biennial taekwondo competition for the junior age category. The 14th edition of the championships was hosted by Chuncheon, South Korea from October 1 to 6, 2024. It was participated by a record of 963 youth athletes born between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2009, from 127 countries, Individual neutral athletes (AIN), and the World Taekwondo Refugee Team who competed across 10 weight categories in both the men’s and women’s divisions.
