Carolena Jean Carstens Salceda (born January 18, 1996 in Winfield,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States) is a

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 representing

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. She has dual US / Panamanian citizenship through her father and mother respectively,. She used to live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois., but has since moved to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In 2011, Carstens participated at the Pan American Championships, where she won the silver medal in the youth -52 kg category, losing to the American Deireanne Morales in the final. She subsequently took part in

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the 2012 Summer Olympics in November 2011, finishing fourth. She later received one of four wild card entries for the Olympics as the 13th ranked athlete in the -49 kg category, becoming the first Olympic taekwondo athlete from Panama, and the second youngest Olympian in the country's history. She was the youngest athlete at the 2012 Olympics. She lost her first contest 7–2 to an eventual finalist, Spaniard Brigitte Yagüe, and then lost her repechage fight to Mexican Jannet Alegría by the same score. She competed for Panama at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was defeated by

Raheleh Asemani Raheleh Asemani ( fa, راحله آسمانی, born 21 June 1989) is an Iranian-born taekwondo practitioner who competes internationally for Belgium. She participated at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She has a history of participating in the Asian g ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the first round. She was the flag bearer for Panama during the closing ceremony. She competed in the women's lightweight event 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carstens, Carolena 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Panamanian descent People with acquired Panamanian citizenship Panamanian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Panama Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for Panama Taekwondo practitioners at the 2015 Pan American Games People from Winfield, Illinois People from Glen Ellyn, Illinois South American Games gold medalists for Panama South American Games medalists in taekwondo Competitors at the 2014 South American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2019 Pan American Games 21st-century American women 21st-century Panamanian women