Benidorm, 29 September 2026.
The 10th ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup opened in Benidorm with a European show of strength. Of the 39 categories decided on Day 1, athletes from AETF nations won 27, or 69.2% of all gold medals. Europe also took 102 of the 149 medals awarded (68.5%). That is more than its 65.3% share of the athletes, so European athletes are winning medals at a higher rate than they entered.
Europe on the medal table
Argentina topped the Day 1 table with 6 golds and 22 medals. The next nine places belong almost entirely to Europe:
- Ireland was second with 5 golds and 18 medals.
- Ukraine was third with 4 golds and 12 medals.
- Finland followed with 3 golds.
- Poland, Norway, Scotland, Romania and Hungary won two golds each.
8 of the top 10 nations are AETF members. Taken together, the AETF nations would lead the table with 27 golds, 27 silvers and 48 bronzes. Twelve of the 18 nations that won gold are European.
Where Europe won
- Special technique: every title of the day went to Europe, won by Finland, Norway and two for Hungary (Szűcs Benedek and Csaba Bernadett).
- Sparring: European athletes won 18 of 25 titles (72.0%) and 72.2% of all sparring medals.
- Women’s events: European women won 15 of 19 titles (78.9%).
- Veterans: in the 46+ division, Europe took 6 of 7 titles.
- Podiums: 11 of the 39 podiums were entirely European.
Highlights of the day
- The biggest categories. Both went to Europe. Isaev Oleksii (Ukraine) won Male 12–14 Pattern 1st Dan, with 126 competitors the largest field of the day. Bieniek Oliwia (Poland) won the female event, which had 116 competitors.
- Ukraine clean sweep. Grygorchyn Olha, Kovalenko Nadiia, Kravtsova Inna and Stepanova Polina filled the whole podium in Female 15–17 Sparring up to 45 kg.
- Israel double. Israel won two junior sparring titles. Merhasin Rafael Aaron won the 65-strong Male 15–17 60–65 kg division. Romalis Yuval won 55–60 kg, where teammate Trakhtman Noam also took bronze.
- England. England collected the most silvers of any nation (6) and 14 medals in total, including a 1–2 in Male 36–45 Sparring 63–77 kg.
- Ireland. Ireland’s 18 medals made it Europe’s most successful team of the day.
Looking ahead
Day 2 starts at 09:00 with power breaking making its first appearance of the week, and every ring will be streamed live.
Congratulations to all of Europe’s World Cup champions, and good luck to Team Europe for the days ahead!
