Ahmad Abughaush (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: أحمد أبو غوش; born 1 February 1996) is a Jordanian

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 ...

athlete. He won the gold medal in the 68 kg category at the 2016 Olympics. This was

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

's first Olympic medal in any sport, excluding a bronze in 1988 when taekwondo was a demonstration sport.

Biography

Abughaush was born in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Jordan. His father is of

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

descent, his grandparents having been relocated from the town of

Abu Ghosh Abu Ghosh ( ar, أبو غوش; he, אבו גוש) is an Arab-Israeli local council in Israel, located west of Jerusalem on the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem highway. It is situated 610–720 meters above sea level. It takes its current name from the d ...

to Jordan decades earlier. Abughaush started Taekwondo at a local training center in Amman, his skills qualified him for inclusion in the national team. In 2010, he participated in the Taekwondo World Championship for juniors that was held in

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

, where he was the only Arab athlete to achieve a gold medal. The year later he competed as an elite at the

2011 World Taekwondo Championships The 2011 World Taekwondo Championships was the 20th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and was held at Gyeongju Indoor Stadium in Gyeongju, South Korea from May 1 to May 6, 2011. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Team ranki ...

in the men's finweight event and was beaten by

Meisam Bagheri Meisam Bagheri (Persian میثم باقری) is an Iranian taekwondo athlete born on 18 April 1991 in Karaj. He won a bronze medal at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, in the men's finweight. At the 2011 World Taekw ...

in the 16th finals. He participated in a number of more championships and was given the best Jordanian athlete award by the

Jordan Olympic Committee Jordan Olympic Committee ( ar, اللجنة الأولمبية الأردنية, IOC code: JOR) is the National Olympic Committee representing Jordan. Member federations * Jordan Athletics Federation * Jordan Badminton Federation * Jordan Bas ...

in 2012. Abugaush took a year off in 2013 after he had suffered a rupture in the

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...

, he soon returned to training and won gold medals in a number of international championships in 2014.

2016 Summer Olympics

Abughaush competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men's 68 kg, where he won the gold medal, defeating

Alexey Denisenko Alexey Alexeyevich Denisenko (russian: Алексей Алексеевич Денисенко; born 30 August 1993) is a Russian taekwondo practitioner. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in the 58 kg division and a silver at the 2016 Ri ...

from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. This was Jordan's first ever Olympic medal. Abughaush told the press "it's an indescribable feeling to win the first medal in the history of Jordan in all the sports" and said "it's also a great feeling to listen to the national anthem of Jordan being played in Rio in front of the whole world." In an interview with

Ro'ya TV Roya TV is a Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Ba ...

, Abughaush's parents said that "Ahmad's accomplishment is an honour to Jordan". They went on to thank the

and the Jordanian Royal family for their support, namely

King Abdullah II Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...

, Crown Prince Hussein and Prince Ali. King Abdullah and Prince Hussein personally called Abughaush to congratulate him on his accomplishment, while Prince Ali, who is well known for sponsoring sports in Jordan, had also personally supported Abughaush's path to the Olympics. The Jordan Olympic Committee issued a 100,000 JD (around $141,000) award for Abughaush and a 50,000 JD (around $71,000) for his coach Faris Al-Assaf, upon their return from Rio.

Queen Alia International Airport Queen Alia International Airport ( ar, مطار الملكة علياء الدولي, Maṭār al-Malika ʿAlyāʾ ad-Dawaliyy) is an international airport located in Zizya, 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Amman, Jordan's capital city, as w ...

witnessed a large public celebration for Abughaush and the Olympic delegation.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abughaush, Ahmad 1996 births Living people Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Jordan Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Jordan Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Jordanian people of Palestinian descent Olympic medalists in taekwondo Sportspeople from Amman Universiade medalists in taekwondo Taekwondo practitioners at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Jordan Asian Games medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Universiade medalists for Jordan Jordanian male taekwondo practitioners World Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade 21st-century Jordanian people