Christophe Negrel (born May 25, 1977 in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

) is a French

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

practitioner, who competed in the men's welterweight category. He picked up a total of eight medals in his career, including three from the European Championships and a silver in the 70-kg division from the

1997 World Taekwondo Championships The 1997 World Taekwondo Championships were the 13th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Hong Kong from November 19 to November 23, 1997, with 710 athletes participating from 80 countries. Medal summary Men Women ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and attained a top eight finish at the 2004 Summer Olympics, representing his nation

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Throughout his sporting career, Negrel trained full-time for La Rose Boxing and Taekwondo Club in his native Marseilles, and also became a full-fledged member of the French taekwondo squad since 1996, under head coach and master Philippe Pinard. Negrel started his sporting career by picking up a bronze medal at the 1994 European Junior Championships in

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. Three years later, he made his official debut in the senior division and eventually claimed a silver in the 70-kg class at the

, losing the final to Egypt's Tamer Abdelmoneim Hussein. In 2003, Negrel reached the pinnacle of his sporting career, as he secured a gold medal victory over Iran's

Yousef Karami Yousef Karami ( fa, یوسف کرمی; born March 22, 1983, in Meyaneh, Iran) is an Iranian taekwondo athlete who competed in the Men's 80 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal. He is also the 2003 world champion (in 78–84& ...

and a spot on the French Olympic squad in the 80-kg class at the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in

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 ...

, Negrel qualified for the French squad in the men's welterweight class (80 kg), by topping the field of fighters and granting a berth from the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

. As the top seeder of the prelim draw, Negrel opened his match with a powerful 13–10 victory over Dutch taekwondo jin

Patrick Stevens Patrick Stevens (born 31 January 1968 in Leut) is a retired sprinter from Belgium. He won the bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 1994 European Championships in Helsinki and a silver medal in the 200 m at the 2000 European Indoor Champions ...

before he fell in a stunning 17–24 defeat to Azerbaijan's

Rashad Ahmadov Rashad Ahmadov ( az, Rəşəd Əhmədov; born January 5, 1981, in Yevlakh) is an Azerbaijani taekwondo practitioner. He is a four-time medalist at the European Taekwondo Championships, and a two-time bronze medalist for the welterweight division ...

in the quarterfinals.

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people French male taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for France Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Marseille European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists 21st-century French people {{France-taekwondo-bio-stub