The very best European taekwondo athletes were gathered last weekend in Manchester for the 2012 continental competition. Let’s review the results in the light of our thorough study of the European Taekwondo Championships of the past fifteen years.
Turkey is still on top
The Turkish team scored seven medals, including three gold, easily confirming its place among the top tier nations. However, that was still not enough to keep first place in the medal tally.
France: The number one team!
The French performance is astonishing: ten medals (three gold, three silver, four bronze) and the number one rank in the medal tally. This is the best result ever for the French team in this competition and the first time in ten years that a nation has reached a double digit medal count (last time was in 2002, when Turkey won eleven).
France exceeded my expectations and reinforced is dynamic current trend.
Congrats to the three female European Champions, Floriane Liborio (-57 kg), Marlène Harnois (-62 kg) and Anne-Caroline Graffe (+73kg), who contributed largely to this success.
Historic results for the GB Team
France is not the only country who blew up its records last week. So did the British, who won seven medals, following the positive trend we identified in our last study. This is a record for this federation, as is its fourth place finish in the medal tally. Are these the results of a group highly motivated for a competition held at home? That’s a good omen for the Olympic Games, which will take place just 200 miles away at the ExCel London.
Aaron Cook, crowned with gold, matched high expectations of Great Britain observers. Congrats also to the new champions Lutalo Muhammad (-87 kg) and Michael Harvey (-63 kg). Jade Jones, a medal hope for the upcoming games couldn’t get past the semifinals and got a bronze medal like in 2010.
But also…
Greece brought in four medals, like they did in 2010. Italy and the Netherlands, each with two medals won, are in the same boat: thery are having a hard time bouncing back from poor results. Spain lost (again) places in the medal tally. Croatia confirms its growing momentum and its very likely entry in the Top 10.
Complete results: See the medal tally of the 2012 European Taekwondo Championships.
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