Team St. Maarten, from Grandmaster Theo Liu’s King Yen Taekwondo School, won 10 gold medals at the 2018 USA International Martial Arts Festival in Orlando, Florida this weekend. The team from the King Yen Taekwondo School under the direction of Grandmaster Theo Liu also won eight silvers and seven bronze medals.
The nine athletes won a total of 25 medals competing in in forms, called Taeguks, sparring and breaking.
Three athletes won at least two gold medals. Leomar Dolphin and Shekinah Carbon both took two gold and one silver each. Six-year-old Rique-Lee Rosalia-Liu grabbed two gold and a bronze medal.
Maalik Richardson and Jacquelle Johnston returned home with three medals. They earned one gold, one silver and one bronze.
Also fighting for gold were Gheisha - Lee Rosalia-Liu won one gold and one silver and Lee - Ann Liu who earned one gold and a bronze.
Lucas Brouwer earned two silver and one bronze Zoe Fer earned one silver and two bronze.
“We put St. Maarten again on the World Taekwondo Map,” said Grandmaster Liu. The competition featured 327 athletes from USA, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Columbia, Canada and Mexico.
“The organization was very excited to see St. Maarten back especially after the storm and announced that to the public,” said the Grandmaster. “Our athletes were filmed and aired on ESPN.”
Assisting the athletes was International Team coordinator and therapist Paulien Vuijst.
“We also receive a lot of invitations from several countries and from ESPN,” said Liu.
Making the trip possible were sponsors Pineapple Pete, AVIS, NAGICO Insurances N.V., Euro Caribbean Linkup N.V., Oriental Caribbean Insurances (OCI), Guardian Group – Fatum N.V, Intermar, Gulf Insurance and West End Management.
