Márton Twins Make History at World Taekwondo Championships

At just 19, twins Luana and Viviana Márton made history at the World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi, China. On Tuesday, Luana, who previously won the 57 kg title two years ago, became Hungary’s first two-time taekwondo world champion in the 67 kg weight class. Her sister, competing in the 62 kg weight class, followed suit with a silver medal on Wednesday, marking the first time two Hungarian taekwondo athletes have stood on the podium at the same world championship.

Luana Márton showed impressive dominance throughout the competition day, even though she was competing in the higher weight class for the first time and thus faced larger and stronger opponents.

In the final, Luana Márton faced Brazil’s Milena Titoneli, who had won bronze in 2019 and 2022 and finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics. Milena Titoneli was probably more exhausted going into the duel after a tough semifinal, which Luana Márton took advantage of to win the first round 8-1. In the second round, there were no points for the first minute, but the Hungarian found the gap.

Her perfect defense prevented any counterpoints from her South American rival and secured Luana Márton the world title.

The new world champion emphasized the challenge of changing weight classes. “It was a new category because the opponents were bigger; after all, I moved from 57 to 67 kilograms,” she explained. Although the fights were slower than in the 57 kg class, they required the utmost vigilance against her opponents’ strong kicks.

Luana Márton was particularly proud of her mental strength. “I have become much stronger, and above all, I was mentally very strong today. I am particularly proud of how focused I was mentally,“ said the athlete. In her opinion, her success also serves as a role model. “Above all, because Hungarian children can see through me, through us, what can be achieved with hard work,” she emphasized.

The athlete announced that she would continue to work hard to compete in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Zsolt Krisztián Márton, president of the Hungarian Taekwondo Federation and namesake of the athlete, described Luana’s performance as a “miracle.” He pointed out that her results at the beginning of the year did not suggest this success, but she showed the same unstoppable spirit as her twin sister Viviana, who won Olympic gold in Paris last year in this class. He emphasized that the fact that Luana Márton won one of the few European medals at this Asian-dominated World Championship underscores the quality of her performance.

Luana’s twin sister, Olympic champion Viviana Márton, competing in the 62 kg weight class, also advanced to the final on Wednesday. The 19-year-old Hungarian competitor faced Tunisia’s Vafa Maszhuni in the final and lost in a close battle. Although both rounds ended in a draw (7-7, 0-0), his rival had more action points, hence she emerged victorious.

The Márton sisters’ performance is historic, as this is the first time that two Hungarian taekwondo athletes have stood on the podium at the same world championship.

“We are very happy even though we ‘only’ won silver medals today,” Zsolt Krisztián Márton told MTI. “I think it is a real world sensation that one of the twins came first and the other second, and at the same world championship. We are proud of them, and special thanks go to the coaches who prepared them, because they did a great job with the girls. I would also like to emphasize that we received all kinds of support from the State Secretariat for Sport, with the state playing a major role in supporting their preparation, but without wonderful competitors and fantastic coaches, these results would obviously not have been possible,” he said.

Via MTI, Featured image: Pexels

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