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
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.
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 SerbianMilica won medal at European championship-article in Serbian*
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{{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