Paulo Ricardo Souza de Melo (born March 1, 1997) is a Brazilian

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 ...

athlete who won a bronze medal at 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 ...

on the men's 54 kg.

Career

Paulo started playing the sport in 2009, in the social project "Projovem", with coach Fabio Lourenço. At the

2018 South American Games The 2018 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was the 11th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. A total of 373 sporting events are scheduled to be contested across a variety of sports. B ...

held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Melo won a bronze medal in the 58 kg category. At the 2018

Pan American Taekwondo Championships Pan American Taekwondo Championships or simply Pan Am Taekwondo Championships are the American taekwondo senior championships, first held in 1978 in Mexico City. The event is held every two years by the Pan American Taekwondo Union and it's consi ...

held in Spokane, USA, Melo won a silver medal. At the

held in Manchester, United Kingdom, Melo won a bronze medal in the Men's finweight category. At the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

held in Lima, Peru, Melo won a bronze medal in the Men's 58 kg category. At the

2021 Pan American Taekwondo Championships The 2021 Pan American Taekwondo Championships, the 21st edition of the Pan American Taekwondo Championships, was held in Cancún, Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion ...

held in Cancún, Mexico, Melo won a bronze medal in the -54 kg category. At the 2022

held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Melo obtained the biggest title of his career by obtaining the gold medal in the 54 kg category. At the

2022 South American Games The XII South American Games (Spanish: ''XII Juegos Suramericanos Asunción 2022'') was a multi-sport event held between 1–15 October 2022 in Asunción, Paraguay. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organization, the Paraguaya ...

held in Asunción, Paraguay, Melo won the gold medal in the 58 kg category. At the

2022 World Taekwondo Championships The 2022 World Taekwondo Championships was the 25th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships and was held at the Centro Acuático CODE Metropolitano, in Guadalajara, Mexico from 13 to 20 November 2022. It was at first scheduled to be held i ...

held in Guadalajara, Mexico, Melo started with a 2-0 victory over Australian Benjamin Camua, with scores of 15-1 and 16-4. In the round of 16, Melo had another triumph, beating the Chinese Zhou Xiao 2-0 (7-1 and 5-1). The Brazilian ended up losing in detail in the quarterfinals, against the South Korean Bae Jun-seo. The first round was tied at 0-0, when Paulo had a fall while attempting a strike at the last second, giving his opponent a point. In the second, a 5-5 draw, with the Asian winning the tiebreaker to close the duel 2-0 (1-0 and 5*-5). Melo finished in 5th place. At the

2023 World Taekwondo Championships The 2023 World Taekwondo Championships was the 26th edition of the World Taekwondo Championships and was held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 29 May to 4 June, 2023. This was the first time that Azerbaijan held the event. Competition schedule All time ...

held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Melo, tenth in the world rankings, debuted against Swede Bleron Ademi and won 2-1 (6/6, 9/1 and 10/3). Then, in the round of 16, he faced Spaniard Hugo Arillo and was defeated in partials of 6/3, 4/6 and 5/4. Melo was ahead on the scoreboard in the last two rounds, but suffered a comeback. At the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2023, links=no), officially the XIX Pan American Games and commonly known as Santiago 2023, is a forthcoming international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, s ...

held in Santiago, Chile, Melo repeated his 2019 result, again obtaining bronze in the individual category. The Brazilian men's team, formed by Melo,

Maicon Andrade Maicon de Andrade Siqueira (born 9 January 1993) is a taekwondo competitor from Brazil. He won bronze medals in both the 2015 Summer Universiade and the 2016 Summer Olympics, being the first Brazilian man to get an Olympic medal in that sport - ...

and

Edival Pontes Edival Marques Quirino Pontes also known as Netinho (born October 11, 1997) is a Brazilian taekwondo athlete. He won the silver medal in the men's lightweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico. He won a ...

, won an unprecedented gold medal for the country, after a thrilling comeback over Cuba in the semifinals, with a 76-60 triumph, and a crushing victory over Chile 48 to 16, where the Brazilian team was impressive in front of the noisy fans who attended the Centro de Deportes de Contacto. De forma heroica, Brasil conquista ouro e bronze por equipes no taekwondo em Santiago
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melo, Paulo Living people 1997 births Sportspeople from Rio Grande do Norte Brazilian male taekwondo practitioners World Taekwondo Championships medalists Taekwondo practitioners at the 2019 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2023 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in taekwondo Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games 21st-century Brazilian people