The 19th ISF Gymnasiade Normandy 2022 kicked off in Normandy, France on May 14 this year. The Chinese delegation, which was organized by the Chinese Middle School Students Sports Association, sent 35 athletes, to compete in nine major sports including track and field, swimming, and table tennis. Li Wan, aged 17, from Chongqing Beibei Vocational Education Center, won Team China's first gold medal in Taekwondo Poomsae at ISF Gymnasiade Normandy 2022, the best result that Chinese students have ever achieved on the world stage.

Li Wan (Photo provided to iChongqing)

"A TV series I watched in the 7th grade attracted me to Taekwondo." The young Taekwondo practitioners in the series, who endeavor to make their dreams come true, inspired the girl.

In October 2019, Li, who had practiced taekwondo for two years, left her hometown Shaoyang in Hunan for Chongqing to receive professional Taekwondo Poomsae training at Tiwangjue Taekwondo Champion Academy of the Chongqing Beibei Vocational Education Center, a renowned Taekwondo training school in China.

The Team China of Taekwondo Poomsae (Photo provided to iChongqing)

"Exercise is boring. A Poomsae (form) has 20-30 movements, and I need to practice each of them more than tens of thousands of times," said Li. Yet, hard work pays off. In November 2020, the athlete took the crown at both individual and mixed games at the National Taekwondo League of Middle School Students Finals & ISF Gymnasiade Test Competition.

The Girls' Taekwondo Poomsae Final of ISF Gymnasiade Normandy 2022 was held in France on the afternoon of May 16 (local time). Li won the gold medal with a final score of 7.47. Bursting into tears with excitement, the girl ran around the field holding up the five-star red flag and shouted, "China!"

Later, Li partnered with Wu Weikang to win a silver medal in the Mixed Poomsae.