Fil-Can taekwondo athlete wins silver and bronze in international competition

Fil-Can taekwondo athlete wins silver and bronze in international competition

Atendido, centre, OSG Gold medalist at OSG Competition

By Mila Astorga-Garcia

Filipino-Canadian taekwondo athlete Lean Atendido garnered an impressive podium finish in his first international competition, winning Silver medal in the Junior Division (-55kg) and Bronze in the Senior Division (-54kg) at the recent Costa Rica Open, one of the prestigious open tournaments sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation.

This feat came close on the heels of his outstanding performance in the Ontario Summer Games (-55kg) held in Mississauga on Aug. 11-14, 2016, where he won the Gold medal. The event is considered the largest in history of this sport, with about 4,000 athletes competing in 32 different events.
Earlier, Atendido emerged first place in the Jr. -51 kg bantamweight division during the Canadian National Taekwondo Championships on May 13, 2016 at the Olympic oval in Calgary, Alberta, besting seven other athletes from different provinces around the country.

As the national champion in his weight division, the 17-year old Filipino Canadian, will represent Canada at the Jr. World Championships in Burnaby, British Columbia in November, 2016.

Contacted by The Philippine Reporter shortly after his big national win, the Grade 12 student of St. Roch Catholic Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario, expressed how he felt honoured to represent Canada in the Taekwondo World Championships.

“This tournament is one of the most prestigious stages that a taekwondo athlete will experience. There will be an estimate of over 100 countries participating at this event,” he said.

Contacted again after his double medal win in his first international competition ever, Atendido replied when asked by The Philippine Reporter to whom and to what did he attribute his outstanding performance:

“I feel like everything that has helped me get to where I am now definitely started with my former coach Shateesh Rai, where he really helped develop all of my basics and built a strong foundation for me. Then when I moved to train with Sungmin Grandmaster Son, I was able to sharpen all the tools that I had, and they gave me the confidence to use them.”

From left: Costa Rica Open podium Bronze medalist Atendido; Gold medalist Reymoore Santos, USA; Silver medalist Anas Sghir, Canada

Atendido, right, with
Coach Sungmin Son

Atendido, left, showing his winning form