Milica Mandić ( sr-cyr, Милица Мандић, born 6 December 1991) is a Serbian retired

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

athlete. She is a two-time Olympic champion in the Women's +67 kg category, having won gold medals at the 2012 and 2020 Summer Olympics. She was also the 2017 world champion in the 73 kg category.

Career

Mandić won a bronze medal in the middleweight category (under 73 kg) at the 2011 World Taekwondo Championships and a silver medal at the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships. At the

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

Mandić beat European Championship gold medallist Anastasia Baryshnikova in the semi finals, before defeating top-seeded Anne-Caroline Graffe of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in a 9–7 win, becoming the first gold medalist for independent

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

she was eliminated in quarterfinals by British Bianca Walkden. At 2017 World Taekwondo Championships she won gold medal, beating South Korean Oh Hye-ri. In April 2020, she announced that she would retire after the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held one year later due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she won her second gold medal (first for Serbia in Tokyo 2020) after defeating South Korean Lee Da-bin in the final.

Hall of Fame

Mandić and her trainer Dragan Jović were inducted in the Taekwondo Hall of Fame at the 2013 ceremony in Las Vegas. She was selected because of her great contribution to the sport in Serbia and across the globe.

Retirement

Following the 2020 Summer Olympics, Mandić ended her professional sports career and married Mark Đuričić, who she had been in a relationship with for eight years.

References

External links

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Milica won medal at World Championship-article in Serbian

Milica won medal at European championship-article in Serbian

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandic, Milica 1991 births Living people Martial artists from Belgrade Serbian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners for Serbia Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in taekwondo Olympic gold medalists for Serbia Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2015 European Games European Games medalists in taekwondo European Games silver medalists for Serbia Taekwondo practitioners at the 2016 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Serbia Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in taekwondo European Taekwondo Championships medalists World Taekwondo Championships medalists Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century Serbian sportswomen