Anne-Caroline Graffe (born 12 February 1986 in

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

) is a French

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

athlete. Graffe took up

when she was 11 years old. She left

for metropolitan

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

when she was 18 years old. She won the women's heavyweight title at the

2011 World Taekwondo Championships The 2011 World Taekwondo Championships was the 20th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and was held at Gyeongju Indoor Stadium in Gyeongju, South Korea from May 1 to May 6, 2011. Medal table Medal summary Men Women Team ranking ...

, held in

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, defeating South Korean An Sae-Bom 1–0 in the final. She won the gold medal at the

2012 European Taekwondo Championships The 2012 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous me ...

. Graffe, who had been training under

Myriam Baverel Myriam Baverel (born 14 January 1981) is a French taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she received a silver medal in the +67 kg class.

at the Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance (

INSEP INSEP, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance (Institut national du sport, de l'expertise et de la performance), is a French sport boarding school, training institute and center that trains elite athletes. It is located on the ...

) for five years, had only been entered for the competition a month before the start of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

following the withdrawal due to injury of Gwladys Épangue. She was the first Polynesian to represent France at the Olympic Games. In her first Olympic competition, she was seeded number one. She cruised through the early rounds to reach the final, where she met

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Milica Mandić Milica Mandić ( sr-cyr, Милица Мандић, born 6 December 1991) is a Serbian retired taekwondo athlete. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the Women's +67 kg category, having won gold medals at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She ...

. After a tight opening two rounds, Mandić opened up in the third and picked off Graffe with rapid kicks to the body and ran out a 9–7 winner.

References

External links

* Living people 1986 births People from Papeete French female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite Summer World University Games medalists in taekwondo FISU World University Games bronze medalists for France European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Pacific Games gold medalists for Tahiti Pacific Games silver medalists for Tahiti 21st-century French sportswomen {{France-taekwondo-bio-stub