Kurt Bryan Dela Vega Barbosa (born June 8, 1999) is a Filipino taekwondo athlete who competed in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

in Tokyo.

Career

College

Barbosa, a student of the National University, has competed in the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univers ...

(UAAP). In 2018 during UAAP Season 81, Barbosa competing in the finweight category was named Rookie Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player for the UAAP's taekwondo tournament.

National team

Kurt Barbosa, a native of

Bangued Bangued, officially the Municipality of Bangued ( ilo, Ili ti Bangued; tgl, Bayan ng Bangued), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the province of Abra, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,382 people. ...

, Abra, was scouted for the Philippine national team during his participation in the

Philippine National Games The Philippine National Games (PNG) officially known as the POC- PSC Games is a national multi-sport tournament in the Philippines. It was created as a means to determine the possible composition of national pool athletes that will compete in int ...

where he represented his home province, and became part of the Philippine Taekwondo Association's grassroots program. Barbosa became part of the national team in 2019 and was placed under the tutelage of coach Carlos Padilla. He participated in the

2019 World Taekwondo Championships The 2019 World Taekwondo Championships was the 24th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships and was held at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, Great Britain from 15 to 19 May 2019. This was the first time the UK has held the event. Medal ...

in the men's finweight category, although he failed to advance from the Round of 64 after his Thai opponent Ramnarong Sawekwiharee eliminated him from the tournament. Barbosa competed at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, which was hosted at home in the Philippines. He clinched a gold medal for the host delegation in taekwondo by besting the men's -54 kg category.

2020 Summer Olympics

Barbosa qualified for the

in Tokyo, which was delayed by a year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, through the 2021 Asian Qualification Tournament in Amman,

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 ...

. He qualified for the Olympics through a top two finish, by beating Jordanian athlete Zaid Alhalawani despite trailing behind his opponent 12 seconds prior to the end of their match. He is the first Filipino taekwondo male athlete to qualify since Tshomlee Go who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics Competing in the Men's −58 kg, Barbosa was scheduled to fight against top-ranked South Korean athlete Jang Jun, who also won gold in the

, in the Round of 16. Barbosa suffered a defeat, but still could have figure in the repechage to potentially clinch a bronze medal if Jang progressed all the way to the final. However Jang lost to Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia in the semifinal, ending Barbosa's Olympic medal bid.

Personal life

Kurt Bryan Barbosa has two younger siblings, Kurt Maverick, being the second oldest who is also a taekwondo athlete and Sheena Angel, the youngest who is an aspiring dancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbosa, Kurt Bryan 1999 births Living people People from Abra (province) Filipino taekwondo practitioners Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic taekwondo practitioners for the Philippines Taekwondo practitioners at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games Competitors at the 2023 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in taekwondo University Athletic Association of the Philippines players National University (Philippines) alumni 21st-century Filipino people