A KEIGHLEY girl is celebrating winning two gold medals at European Taekwondo Championships.
Representing Team England, Yvie Ling-Hegarty, 14, of Keighley, won two gold medals in sparring and individual technique at the 2024 European Open Taekwondo Championship held from October 25 to 27 in Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
She also won two other medals, a silver in team sparring and a bronze in individual patterns.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Yvie said. “I was aiming to win a gold medal, so to come away with four medals, I got more than I expected. I’m proud of myself.
“I was an honour to be picked to compete for Team England,” added Yvie, who attended the European Championships along with 50 other Team England athletes.”
Yvie’s success follows on from last year at the 2023 European Championships in Spain when she took home golds in sparring and patterns.
“It was nice to regain the gold in sparring,” added Yvie, who also won her first gold medal at the World Championships in Argentina in 2022.
Yvie, who began training in taekwondo at the age of eight, has come a long way since she won her first medals in 2019 when she competed at the World Championships in Sardinia, taking home silver and bronze medals that year.
When asked what her favourite thing about taekwondo, Yvie said: “I just love travelling the world to see how other athletes compete.
“Taekwondo is also a sport all about respect and respecting other people.
“Competitors have that mutual respect for each other and there is good sportsmanship in the sport.
Yvie, a pupil at Beckfoot Oakbank School, has a busy taekwondo schedule, training four times a week at two Keighley centres, Horizon Taekwondo and Beanland Taekwondo.
“You have to overtrain, but it’s all worth it in the end. All of the hard work has paid off.”
Yvie also gave credit to her Team England coaches as well as her trainer in Keighley, Chris Beanland.
“He a really good trainer who is very patient,” she said. “He puts a lot into his students to be the best they can be. I wouldn’t be where I am without him.”
As she continues a successful young run in taekwondo, Evie is not slowing down.
“I’m going to keep competing,” she said. “I’ll be back at the Worlds in Argentina and the Euros in Italy next year.”
Yvie is sponsored by LCL, Living My Dream Creations and Win-door Fit Ltd.
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