Tachiana Kezhia Mangin celebrates after her gold medal win in the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea.–PHOTO FROM WORLD TAEKWONDO

MANILA, Philippines–Tachiana Mangin’s biggest motivation is stepping on the competition mat of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Bringing back the Philippines atop the world stage, the Grade 12 student from University of Santo Tomas took the right path after striking gold in the 2024 World Taekwondo Junior Championship in Chuncheon, South Korea.

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Mangin ruled the women’s -49kgs division by defeating crowd favorite South Korea’s Kim Hyang-Gi, 2-1, at the Chuncheon Air Dome, the first time a Filipino jin did so on the global scene for quite some time.

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“My biggest dream is to compete in the Olympics in 2028. It has become my motivation to bring out the best in me,” said Mangin, awarded the best junior jin in the country during the 2023 Siklab Youth Sports Awards.

Mangin claimed the nation’s first junior world title since Alex Borromeo topped the men’s -47kg division during the 1996 worlds held in Barcelona, Spain.

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Tachiana Kezhia Mangin poses with her gold medal at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships.–PHOTO FROM WORLD TAEKWONDO

Besides the Olympics, Mangin is looking forward to the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.

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“I’m very thankful that I survived and won the gold after four fights in one day,” said Mangin, who was coached by 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympian Kirstie Elaine Alora. “My family and my supporters are my inspiration.”

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Mangin defeated Spain’s Judith Cordoba Heredia and Thailand’s Natkamon Wassna to book a spot in the quarterfinal where the 16-year-old from Valenzuela City trounced Egypt’s Habiba Wael Emerah.

Lamprini Anna Asimaki of Greece begged off in the semifinal due to injury, catapulting Mangin to a head-on collision with the favored South Korean in the gold-medal match.

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“Those fights were very difficult, especially against Korea and Thailand. I was able to adjust tactically during the match and survived them,” said Mangin, a gold medalist in the Daegu 2024 World University Taekwondo Festival.

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