Carolena Jean Carstens Salceda (born January 18, 1996, in Winfield,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States) is a

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 ...

practitioner representing

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. She has dual US / Panamanian citizenship through her father and mother respectively,. She used to live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois., but has since moved to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. In 2011, Carstens participated at the Pan American Championships, where she won the silver medal in the youth -52 kg category, losing to the American Deireanne Morales in the final. She subsequently took part in

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for 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 ...

in November 2011, finishing fourth. She later received one of four wild card entries for the Olympics as the 13th ranked athlete in the -49 kg category, becoming the first Olympic taekwondo athlete from Panama, and the second youngest Olympian in the country's history. She was the youngest athlete at the 2012 Olympics. She lost her first contest 7–2 to an eventual finalist, Spaniard Brigitte Yagüe, and then lost her repechage fight to Mexican Jannet Alegría by the same score. She competed for Panama at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, and was defeated by Raheleh Asemani of Belgium in the first round. She was the flag bearer for Panama during the closing ceremony. She competed in the women's lightweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carstens, Carolena 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Panamanian descent Naturalized citizens of Panama Panamanian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Panama Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for Panama Taekwondo practitioners at the 2015 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2019 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games People from Winfield, Illinois Sportspeople from Glen Ellyn, Illinois South American Games gold medalists for Panama South American Games medalists in taekwondo Competitors at the 2014 South American Games 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century Panamanian sportswomen Bolivarian Games gold medalists for Panama Bolivarian Games medalists in taekwondo