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Ceili Peterson to be lone Guyanese Taekwondo Athlete at 2023 Pan Am Games
Kaieteur News – Ceili Peterson will be the lone Guyanese Taekwondo athlete at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, after earning one of the 12 spots up for grabs in her 49kg weight class at the qualification tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 23.
Ceili Peterson
The Canada-based Peterson was one of 19 in the division.
Peterson won her first match against the Dominican Republic and then went on to win against the host country and second-seed athlete from Brazil, earning herself and Guyana a place at the prestigious event set for October 20 – November 5.
The 21-year-old Peterson started taekwondo at age five, and by 13, she began competing internationally.
As a 14-year-old, she earned a silver medal at the 2015 Cadet Pan Am Championships in Mexico and was a quarter-finalist at the Cadet World Championships in Korea.
Ceili Peterson (right) connects to her opponent from Brazil during the 2023 Pan Am qualification tournament.
At age 16, Peterson was a bronze medallist at the 2017 Junior Pan Am Championships in Costa Rica, but her dream has always been to compete and medal at the Olympic Games.
With her sight set on Paris 2024, competing as a Guyana Senior National Team member at the recent Pan Am Games Qualification Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was a big step toward achieving that Olympic dream.
Her next National Team event will be the Taekwondo Senior World Championships at the end of May in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Ceili is a 4th Degree Master of Taekwondo who balances training twice daily with international competitions and her university education.
She graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Kinesiology with a Minor in Psychology from York University in Toronto, Canada, and she will commence her Master’s Degree in Kinesiology focusing on Sport Psychology in September 2023.
Ceili Peterson (right) in action at the 2023 Pan Am qualification Taekwondo tournament in Brazil.
Taekwondo is a martial art that teaches incredible life skills like perseverance, respect, integrity, dedication, and indomitable spirit. It is a way of life for those who work hard to achieve a black belt – often a four-year journey or more. And for the past 20 years, it has also been an Olympic sport.
This offers a rare opportunity for its competitors to travel the world competing internationally at tournaments as young as 12 years old.
Peterson said she’s grateful to Guyana’s National Taekwondo Federation for the honour of representing Guyana on a world stage and the opportunity to inspire boys and girls alike to set big goals and to pursue their athletic interests – perhaps even in taekwondo.
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