Veronica Calabrese (born 7 November 1987 in
Mesagne
Mesagne ( Mesagnese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brindisi and region of Apulia, on the south-east Italy coast. Its main economic activities are tourism and the growing of olives and grapes. It is the fifth most-populous town of the provin ...
,
Brindisi) is an Italian
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. She won two bronze medals for the 57 and 59 kg classes at the
European Taekwondo Championships
The European Taekwondo Championships are the European senior championships in Taekwondo, first held in Barcelona in 1976. The event is held every two years and is organized by the European Taekwondo Union, the continental affiliate of World Taekw ...
(2006 in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
, and
2010 in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
). She also captured a silver medal in the same division at the
2009 World Taekwondo Championships in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, losing out to China's
Hou Yuzhuo. Calabrese is a member of the taekwondo team for
Centro Sportivo Esercito, and is coached and trained by Yoon Soon-Cheul.
She is engaged to two-time Olympic medalist
Mauro Sarmiento.
Calabrese qualified for the
women's 57 kg class at the
2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, after placing second from the World Qualification Tournament in
Manchester, England
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. She defeated Colombia's
Doris Patiño
Doris Esmid Patiño Marín (born May 1, 1986, in Sogamoso, Boyacá) is a Colombian taekwondo practitioner. She won a silver medal for the 57 kg class at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, losing out to Mexico's Irma Contreras ...
and Senegal's
Bineta Diedhiou in the first two rounds, before losing out the semi-final match to South Korean taekwondo jin and world champion
Lim Su-Jeong, with a score of 1–5. Calabrese automatically qualified for the bronze medal bout, where she narrowly lost the medal to United States'
Diana López, with a sudden death score of 2–3.
References
External links
*
NBC Olympics Profile
Italian female taekwondo practitioners
1987 births
Living people
Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Italy
Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics
People from Mesagne
World Taekwondo Championships medalists
European Taekwondo Championships medalists
Sportspeople from the Province of Brindisi
21st-century Italian women
{{Italy-taekwondo-bio-stub