Aleksandra Uścińska (born December 2, 1984) is a Polish

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, who competed in the women's featherweight category. She picked up a total of thirteen medals in her taekwondo career, including a silver from the World Junior Championships in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and represented her nation

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Uscinska also trained as a member of the taekwondo squad for Rapid Srem Sports Club ( pl, Klub Sportowy Rapid Srem) in her native

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, under head coach and master Robert Sadurski. Uscinska qualified as a lone taekwondo fighter for the Polish squad in the women's featherweight class (57 kg) at the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, by placing third and granting a berth from the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Baku, Azerbaijan 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 an ...

. Having a lack of international experience to the sport, Uscinska endured her first-round defeat 2–11 to Spain's Sonia Reyes. With her Spanish opponent narrowly losing the quarterfinals to South Korea's Jang Ji-won, Uscinska withered her hopes to compete for the Olympic bronze medal through the repechage.

References

External links

* 1984 births Living people Polish female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Poland Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Poznań 21st-century Polish sportswomen {{Poland-taekwondo-bio-stub