Ismaël Coulibaly (born 20 November 1992) is a
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
an
taekwondo practitioner who mainly fights in the lightweight division. Coulibaly represented Mali at the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, where he competed in the
men's 80kg competition. He was Mali's
flag bearer
A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...
for the
closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. He has also competed in three
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 u ...
, a
World Taekwondo Grand Prix
The World Taekwondo Grand Prix is a taekwondo competition introduced by the World Taekwondo Federation in 2013 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic taekwondo tournament. It consists of four competitions per year in ea ...
and two
African Games
The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (A ...
. He has won multiple World Championship medals and multiple medals in African regional competitions.
Competition
Coulibaly's debut at an international sporting competition was 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 rank ...
where he competed in the
lightweight competition.
His first fight in the competition was in the round of 64, where he beat
Sawatvilay Phimmasone of Laos 7–3.
He then beat German Mokdad Ounis 4–3 and Mexican
Uriel Adriano 15–7 to progress through to the quarterfinals.
In his quarterfinal, Coulibaly faced Austrian
Manuel Mark
Manuel Mark (born 10 November 1985) is an Austrian 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 technique ...
and won 9–7.
In the semi-final of the competition, Coulibaly fought
Alireza Nasr Azadani of Iran.
Azadani won the fight nine seven.
Therefore, Coulibaly, along with the other loser in the semi-finals, Turk
Rıdvan Baygut
Rıdvan Baygut (born March 3, 1985) is a European champion Turkish taekwondo practitioner competing in the lightweight division. He is tall at .
Having a degree in physical education and sports from the Sakarya University, Baygut is a member ...
, was awarded a bronze medal.
He was Mali's only medalist at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships. At the
2011 All-Africa Games, Coulibaly won a bronze medal in the −74 kg competition.
Coulibaly then competed in the
2013 World Taekwondo Championships
The 2013 World Taekwondo Championships was the 21st edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and was held in Puebla (city), Puebla, Mexico from July 15 to July 21, 2013.
Medal summary
Men
Women
Medal table
Team ranking
Men
...
where he reached the round of 32 of the
lightweight competition, before losing 8–3 to Russian
Albert Gaun. Coulibaly's next major competition was the
2015 World Taekwondo Championships where he competed in the
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 ...
.
In the round of 64 he beat Qatari Mohammed Hamooda 10–2.
He then won his round of 32 fight 5–1 against Bulgarian Teodor Georgiev before beating Frenchman
Torann Maizeroi
Torann Maizeroi (born 1 April 1989 in Fort-de-France, Martinique) 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 punchin ...
5–4 in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinals, Coulibaly beat
Júlio Ferreira
Júlio Alexandre Bacelar Oliveira Ferreira (born 29 April 1994) is a Portuguese taekwondo practitioner from Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and o ...
of Portugal 9–5 to progress to the semi-finals.
He faced Uzbek
Nikita Rafalovich
Nikita Rafalovich (born 10 October 1993) is an Uzbekistani taekwondo athlete.
Career
Rafalovich represented Uzbekistan at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the men's 80 kg. He qualified to represent Uzbekistan at the 2020 Summer O ...
in the semi-final and lost 4–3, and, therefore, won a bronze medal which was Mali's only medal in the championships.
Coulibaly won a bronze medal in the Moscow leg of the
2015 World Taekwondo Grand Prix
The 2015 World Taekwondo Grand Prix was the 3rd edition of the World Taekwondo Grand Prix series.
Timeline
Men
58 kg
68 kg
80 kg
+80 kg
Women
49 kg
57 kg
67 kg
+67 kg
Medal table
References
External linksOfficial website
{ ...
in the 80 kg competition.
Coulibaly won his first international gold medal at the
2015 African Games
The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965.
Host aw ...
after beating Egyptian
Seif Eissa
Seif Eissa (Arabic: سيف عيسى; born 15 June 1998) is an Egyptian Taekwondo practitioner & a Bronze medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He won a bronze medal at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China. He also earned a gold medal a ...
in the final of the
lightweight competition.
Coulibaly qualified for the
2016 Summer Olympics by winning a silver medal in the
−80 kg competition of the
2016 African Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament.
He lost to
Oussama Oueslati of Tunisia in the final of the tournament.
2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
, Brazil, Coulibaly competed in the
80kg competition.
He was the eighth seed for the competition, out of 16 athletes.
Before the competition started he told
Africanews
Africanews is a French multilingual news network, formerly headquartered in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. Budget concerns caused by the coronavirus forced the channel to permanently shift operations to a small newsroom at the headquarters ...
that, "“Being young I stopped my studies for this sport, honestly I regretted a lot, but on the other hand, I don’t regret it, because I am one of the best athletes in the world, and for that i don’t have many regrets and i know that my family is proud of me. i am going to continue fighting, I promise to win an Olympic medal and God willing i will do it." For the preliminary round, Coulibaly was drawn against Azerbaijani
Milad Beigi
Milad Beigi Harchegani ( fa, میلاد بیگی هرچگانی, az, Milad Beygi Hərçigani; born 1 March 1991 in Booshehr) is an Iranian-born naturalized Azerbaijani taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, ...
.
Beigi won the fight 13–6 and, therefore, Coulibaly was knocked out of the competition.
Coulibaly was
Mali's flag bearer
A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...
for the
closing ceremony of the Olympics.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coulibaly, Ismael
1992 births
Living people
Malian male taekwondo practitioners
Sportspeople from Bamako
Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Mali
African Games gold medalists for Mali
African Games medalists in taekwondo
African Games bronze medalists for Mali
Competitors at the 2011 All-Africa Games
Competitors at the 2015 African Games
Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics
World Taekwondo Championships medalists
21st-century Malian people