Karine Sergerie (born February 1, 1985) is the 2007 world champion in women's lightweight (under 63 kg)

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 ...

. She is Canada's first female world champion in the sport.

Biography

Sergerie was born in

Sainte-Catherine, Quebec Sainte-Catherine is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River in the Regional County Municipality of Roussillon. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 16,762. History The land had ...

, Canada. Her father and coach, Rejean, introduced her to

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

at age five. She competed in karate from 1992–1998. He continued to coach her when she took an interest in taekwondo after her older brother took up the sport. She is the six-time consecutive national champion (2002–2007). She is also a graduate of

Vanier College Vanier College ( French: ''Collège Vanier'') is an English-language public college located in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1970 as the second English-language public college of Quebec's public colle ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Career

Sergerie won a silver medal at the 2003 World Taekwondo Championships. Despite this accomplishment, she did not qualify for 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), ...

because of a "contradiction in the selection process". One set of requirements said she needed to win a gold at the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

to qualify, while another one did not. Although she did win a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan-Am Games, the Taekwondo Federation of Canada ruled it was not enough. Sergerie was part of the three member 2008 Canadian Olympic team at the Summer Olympic Games in Taekwondo along with

Ivett Gonda Ivett Gonda (born April 28, 1986 in Jászberény, Hungary) is a Hungarian-born Canadian retired taekwondo competitor. She moved to Canada when she was four. From 1995 to mid 2013 Gonda competed professionally for Canada until she decided to compe ...

and

Sébastien Michaud Sébastien Michaud (born May 7, 1987) started in taekwondo at the age of five, following in his father's and brothers footsteps. Born in Joliette, Quebec, he currently resides in Quebec City, Quebec where he studies software engineering at Univer ...

, and also represented Canada in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2008, Karine advanced to the final where she competed against

Hwang Kyung-Seon Hwang Kyung-seon (, born May 21, 1986), also spelled Hwang Kyung-sun, is a female South Korean Taekwondo practitioner. She is a two-time Olympic Champion from 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Olympics In 2008, she won the gold medal in the -6 ...

for the gold medal. Her silver medal is Canada's best Olympic placing in the sport.

Career Highlights

*2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: Silver *2007 World Taekwondo Championships: Gold *2007 Pan American Games: Gold *2007 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold *2006 Pan American Championships: Gold *2006 Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships: Gold *2006 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold *2005 World Taekwondo Championships: Bronze *2005 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold *2004 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold *2003 World Taekwondo Championships: Silver *2003 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold *2002 Canadian Senior National Championships: Gold

Awards

2009 Inducted Into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame
*Recipient of the 2005 National Championships Most Valuable Player Award. *The 2005 Taekwondo Spirit award at the National Championships. *2006 Most Valuable Player at the Pan Am Championships. *2008 Athlete of the Year by Gala Sports-Québec.

References

External links

Karine Sergerie 2007 World Championships clip on Youtube
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergerie, Karine 1985 births Living people Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Canada Canadian female taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2007 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in taekwondo World Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 21st-century Canadian women