Catherine Seulki Kang (born 25 September 1987) is a

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 ...

n-born Central African

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. She competed at 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 the Women's 49 kg event. On 8 August, she was defeated in the preliminary round against

Lucija Zaninović Lucija Zaninović (born 26 June 1987, in Split, Croatia, Split) is a Croatian taekwondo practitioner. She is the twin sister of taekwondo practitioner Ana Zaninović. Zaninović won the gold medal in the women's flyweight class at the 2010 Europ ...

of Croatia.

Personal life

Kang was born in

Gunsan Gunsan (; ), also romanized as Kunsan, is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-t ...

Jeonbuk North Jeolla Province, officially Jeonbuk State (), is a Special Self-governing Province of South Korea in the Honam region in the southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Jeonbuk borders the provinces of South Chungcheong to the north, North Gyeong ...

province and resides at

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

in South Korea. She graduated from Gyeonggi Science High School and

Woosuk University Woosuk University (WU; ) is a private university located in Wanju County, North Jeolla Province and Jincheon County, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea, Republic of Korea. History The origins of Woosuk University began with the establis ...

Career

While working as Taekwondo instructor in Belgium, Kang decided to switch nationality in 2010 to

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

to try to qualify for the

2012 Summer Olympic Games 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 2012, Kang become the first taekwondo athlete to win a medal while representing Central African Republic in an international event. She won the bronze medal in the WU Taekwondo Championship 2012 which was held in her native country South Korea at

Pocheon Pocheon (; ) is an landlocked, inland Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in northeast Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It covers 2 with a population of 160,176 people, according to the 2008 census. Pocheon lies between Seoul and the mou ...

. Kang also works as a Taekwondo coach for the

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...

team competing in La Liga Antioqueña de Taekwondo at

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Gunsan Martial artists from North Jeolla Province Martial artists from Busan South Korean female taekwondo practitioners Central African Republic female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners for the Central African Republic Naturalized citizens of Central African Republic South Korean expatriates in Colombia 21st-century South Korean sportswomen {{CentralAfricanRepublic-taekwondo-bio-stub