Tina Michelle Tanrıkulu (née Morgan, born 10 August 1982) is an Australian

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 ...

coach and former international competitor.Australian Olympic Committee: Tina Tanrikulu (nee Morgan)
(''c.'' 2009). Retrieved on 21 April 2010. She represented her country at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, placing fifth in the latter competition. In 2006, Morgan became the first Australian taekwondo competitor to win a World Cup title. She started working as a coach for Turkish taekwondo club Ankaragücü in 2011.

Early life

Morgan was born on 10 August 1982 in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

, Queensland, Australia. She moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

as a child and completed her secondary schooling at Woodvale Senior High School. She recalls first having been inspired to become an Olympic athlete when watching the weightlifting competition at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Originally, she had planned to compete in gymnastics, but was told she would grow too tall; she then tried other sports. In 1994, Morgan was inspired to begin training in taekwondo after watching her brother training in the martial art at the local gymnasium. During her school years, she was also a Western Australian state champion in competitive aerobics, as well as playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, netball, and tennis. Morgan earned a tertiary diploma in tourism management in Victoria and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland is a public research university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the sixth largest city in the Australian state of Queensland Founded in 1967 after a successful campaign by the local Darling Down ...

. At national and international level, she trained in taekwondo at the

Western Australian Institute of Sport The Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1983 by the Government of Western Australia to support athletes in Western Australia. The founding director was Wally Foreman who held the position for 17 ye ...

and the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

. Her Olympic coaches have included Jin-Tae Jeong (from 2002 to 2004) and

Daniel Trenton Daniel Trenton (born March 1, 1977) is an Australian lawyer and taekwondo coach who represented his country in the sport at international level.

(from 2005 to 2008).

Competitive taekwondo career

Morgan was listed at in height and in weight. She competed in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens (+67 kg) and the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing (–67 kg). Morgan lost her first match in Athens against Brazilian athlete Natália Falavigna da Silva. In 2006, Morgan became the first Australian taekwondo athlete to win a World Cup Title and to be ranked Number 1 in the world in her division. Morgan managed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics despite sustaining a major knee injury less than a year before Olympic Qualifications, with orthopaedic Surgeon Hayden Morris performing a repair operation using donor tissue to reduce recovery time.McArthur, G. (2007)
Tina Morgan set for 2008 Olympic Games tae kwon do
''Herald Sun'' (24 September 2007). Retrieved on 21 April 2010. The operation involved transplanting a deceased person's

patella The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

into Morgan's knee. Her hopes of fighting for a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics were dashed when she lost a third-round match to Canadian

Karine Sergerie Karine Sergerie (born February 1, 1985) is the 2007 world champion in women's lightweight (under 63 kg) taekwondo. She is Canada's first female world champion in the sport. Biography Sergerie was born in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, Canada. ...

on decision.Anonymous (2008)
Tina Morgan cries foul after Beijing Olympics taekwondo loss
''The Australian'' (22 August 2008). Retrieved on 21 April 2010.Hinds, R. (2008)

''The Age'' (23 August 2008). Retrieved on 21 April 2010. Morgan eventually placed fifth after she lost the bronze medal match against French competitor Gwladys Épangue 4–1.

Post-competition career

On 29 January 2009, Morgan married Turkish taekwondo competitor and Olympic silver medallist

Bahri Tanrıkulu Bahri Tanrıkulu (born March 16, 1980, in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish taekwondo practitioner, who competed in the Men's 80 kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece and won the silver medal. He studied at Akdeniz Universit ...

in Perth.Anonymous (2009)
Getting a kick out of marriage
''Community News'' (4 February 2009). Retrieved on 21 April 2010. At the time, Morgan said that she was looking forward to coaching future taekwondo competitors.

References

External links

Fox Sports: Tina Morgan
contains a photograph of Morgan (July 2008). * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Tina 1982 births Living people Australian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Australia Sportswomen from Western Australia Sportspeople from Townsville Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Western Australian Institute of Sport alumni University of Southern Queensland alumni Martial artists from Perth, Western Australia World Taekwondo Championships medalists 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian sportswomen

Early life

Competitive taekwondo career

Post-competition career

See also

References

External links