Aaliyah Powell (born 25 October 2002 in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

practitioner. Powell fought initially in the

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

competitions before moving up to

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

. She has won World Championship bronze medals in both weight classes.

Career

Powell began practising the

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

taekwondo at age nine, after having competed in dance tournaments as a child. She won a bronze medal in the women's senior 53 kg competition at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships, after being defeated by

Tatiana Kudashova Tatiana Alexeyevna Minina ( rus, Татьяна Алексеевна Минина, , tɐˈtʲjanə ˈmʲinʲɪnə; née Kudashova; born 18 April 1997) is a Russian taekwondo athlete. She won the silver medal at the 2017 World Taekwondo Champions ...

in the semifinal.https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/other-sport/aaliyah-powell-versus-jade-jones-as-yorkshire-athlete-bids-for-taekwondo-gp-glory-and-paris-2024-spot-4431050 Three years later, she won another bronze at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships, this time in the 62 weight class competition. In 2023, she again won one of the bronze medals in the women's 62 kg event at the

World Taekwondo Championships The World Taekwondo Championship is held every two years by World Taekwondo. Competitions 1 Wuxi, China, was originally selected to host the 2021 World Taekwondo Championships. Due to the impact of the Global COVID-19 pandemic, Wuxi gave up ...

held in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

. The same year, she won two bronze medals at

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

competitions held in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, respectively, as well as one bronze at the Grand Slam Qualifier, held in

Wuxi Wuxi (, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu province, eastern China, by car to the northwest of downtown Shanghai, between Changzhou and Suzhou. In 2017 it had a population of 3,542,319, with 6,553,000 living in the entire prefecture-level city ar ...

Personal life

Powell has passed her GCSEs. Since 2023, she is sponsored by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

and is exploring careers in fashion and modelling.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Aaliyah 2002 births Living people British female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century British women Taekwondo practitioners at the 2023 European Games European Games bronze medalists for Great Britain European Games medalists in taekwondo