Ela Aydin (born 12 January 1999) is a German taekwondo athlete. Her greatest achievements are a bronze medal at the 2022 Grand Prix in Paris and two bronze medals at European Championships.

Ela Aydin
Personal information
NationalityGerman
Born (1999-01-12) 12 January 1999 (age 25)
Munich, Germany
Height1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
CountryGermany
SportTaekwondo
Event –49 kg
ClubTSV Dachau 1865 e.V.
Turned pro2018
Coached byDemirhan Aydin
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking5 (2022)[1]
Medal record
Women's taekwondo
Representing  Germany
Grand Prix
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Paris 49 kg
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Sofia 49 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Manchester 53 kg
Military World Games
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Wuhan 49 kg
European U21 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Sofia 53 kg[2]
Updated on 30 March 2024

Career

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Junior

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Ela Aydin began practicing taekwondo at the age of five and participated in her first competition at age six. When she was 14, she was selected to represent the German national team at her first U15 European Championship in Bucharest in 2013, where she won a bronze medal.[3]

In the years following, Aydin took part in several competitions such as the taekwondo Youth World Championships and several European Championships. In 2016, she tore a cruciate ligament in her knee and due to undergoing surgery had to take a break from competing.[4][5]

Senior

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In 2017, Aydin won a silver medal at the U21 European Championships in Sofia. In 2018, she participated in the European Championships in Kazan but lost in the prelims against the eventual European Champion Kristina Tomić from Croatia. She also competed in the Grand Prix series of 2018.[6]

The following year, Aydin won a bronze medal at the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan and a silver medal at the Extra European Championships in Bari. In both competitions, she participated in the Olympic weight class of 49 kilograms. She also competed in the 2019 World Championships in Manchester, where she finished in ninth place, as well as the 2019 European U21 Championships and two Grand Prix competitions.

In early 2021, Aydin won a bronze medal at the European Championships in Sofia.[6] A few months later, she narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2020 Olympics Games, losing to Israeli fighter Avishag Semberg in the semifinals of the tournament. Qualifying for the final would have meant being allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

In September 2022, Ela Aydin won a bronze medal at the Paris Grand Prix - she is the first woman of the German national team to have won a medal at a Grand Prix competition.[7][8][3] She also won a bronze medal at the 2022 European Championships in Manchester.[6] She took part in the 2023 World Championships in Baku. She won her opening match but lost to Dunya Abutaleb from Saudi Arabia in her second match (round of 16).[9]

In March 2024, Aydin participated in the European qualification tournament for the Summer Olympics in Paris, where she won the round of 16 against Zemfira Hasanzade (Azerbaijan) 2:0, but lost to Ilenia Matonti from Italy in the quarter-finals.[10][11] She therefore did not qualify a quota place for the 49 kg weight category at the Olympic Games, as this would have required her to reach the final.[12][13][14] In April 2024, Aydin underwent another cruciate ligament and meniscus surgery.[4]

Personal life

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In 2017, Aydin graduated from school with a General Certificate of Secondary Education. In the same year, she joined the sports promotion group of the Bundeswehr (German: Sportfördergruppe der Bundeswehr) and completed her basic training by the start of 2018. She has been a Soldier-Athlete (German: Sportsoldat) ever since.[15]

Competitive history

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Year[6] Event Location G-Rank Place
2024 Belgian Open   Lommel G-2 9th
Olympic Games Qualification Europe   Sofia - 5th
Slovenia Open   Ljubljana G-1 3rd
German Championships   Ochsenhausen - 1st
2023 Grand Prix (F)   Manchester G-10 9th
Croatia Open   Zagreb G-1 3rd
Grand Prix   Taiyuan G-6 5th
Polish Open   Warsaw G-1 3rd
Grand Prix   Paris G-6 5th
Tallinn Open   Tallinn G-1 1st
European Games   Krakow G-4 5th
Grand Prix   Rome G-6 5th
World Championships   Baku G-14 17th
European Clubs Championships   Sofia G-1 1st
Belgian Open   Lommel G-2 5th
Dutch Open   Eindhoven G-1 5th
US Open   Las Vegas G-2 3rd
German Championships   Nuremberg - 2nd
2022 Grand Prix (F)   Riyadh G-10 5th
World Championships   Guadalajara G-14 9th
Dutch Open   Eindhoven G-1 1st
Grand Prix   Paris G-6 3rd
Grand Prix   Manchester G-6 17th
Grand Prix   Rome G-6 9th
European Clubs Championships   Tallinn G-2 2nd
European Championships   Manchester G-4 3rd
Spanish Open   La Nucia G-2 3rd
Turkish Open   Antalya G-2 1st
Fujairah Open   Fujairah G-2 1st
German Championships   Weißenburg - 1st
2021 World Women's Championships   Riyadh G-4 5th
French Open   Paris G-1 3rd
Montenegro Open   Podgorica G-1 3rd
Albania Open   Tirana G-1 3rd
WT Presidents Cup - Europe   Istanbul G-1 2nd
Polish Open   Warsaw G-1 5th
Tallinn Open   Tallinn G-1 1st
Beirut Open   Beirut G-2 2nd
Olympic Games qualification Europe   Sofia - 4th
Spanish Open   Alicante G-1 3rd
European Championships   Sofia G-4 3rd
German Championships   Dortmund - 1st
2020 Sofia Open   Sofia G-1 3rd
German Open   Hamburg G-2 2nd
Helsingborg Open   Helsingborg G-1 3rd
WT President's Cup - Europe   Helsingborg G-2 5th
German Championships   Lünen - 1st
2019 Extra European Championships   Bari G-4 2nd
Military World Games   Wuhan G-2 3rd
Grand Prix   Sofia G-4 5th
Grand Prix   Chiba G-4 5th
Austrian Open   Innsbruck G-1 3rd
WT Presidents Cup - Africa   Agadir G-1 3rd
Dutch Open   Nijmegen G-1 3rd
US Open   Las Vegas G-1 3rd
Slovenia Open   Maribor G-1 1st
World Championships   Manchester G-14 5th
European Championships (U21)   Helsingborg G-4 5th
German Championships   Nuremberg - 2nd
2018 Luxembourg Open   Luxembourg G-1 3rd
Multi European Games   Plodiv G-1 1st
Austrian Open   Innsbruck G-1 1st
European Championships   Kazan G-4 5th
Grand Prix   Moscow G-6 5th
2017 Croatia Open   Zagreb G-4 2nd
Serbia Open   Belgrade G-1 3rd
Riga Open   Riga G-1 2nd
Polish Open   Warsaw G-1 1st
Austrian Open   Innsbruck G-1 2nd
European Championships (U21)   Sofia G-4 2nd
2014 German Championships   Gummersbach - 2nd
2013 European Championships (cadets)   Bucharest G-4 3rd

References

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  1. ^ http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/ranking/ranking.html
  2. ^ "Taekwondodata.com: Ela Aydin". taekwondodata.com. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Aydin gewinnt Bronze beim Grand Prix in Paris". sport.de (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Deutsche Taekwondo Union e.V.: Mitglied". dtu.de. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Ela Aydin: "Eine stärkere und erfolgreichere Ela als davor." | Menschen". athlet.one. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  7. ^ "[World Taekwondo] Results - Day 1". worldtaekwondo.org. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Taekwondo | Olympia-Qualifikation | Damen 49kg & 57kg & Herren 58kg | World Grand Prix | Paris". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022.
  9. ^ "[World Taekwondo] Result_Day 3". worldtaekwondo.org. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  10. ^ https://europetaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EQT-Olympic-P11-Competition-Draw-Sheet-with-results-DAY-1-1.pdf
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20240309223540/https://europetaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EQT-Olympic-P11-Competition-Draw-Sheet-with-results-DAY-1-1.pdf
  12. ^ "[World Taekwondo] Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualification System". m.worldtaekwondo.org. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  13. ^ https://europetaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EQT-Olympic-P11-Competition-Draw-Sheet-DAY-1-09-MAR-2024.pdf
  14. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20240309124927/https://europetaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/EQT-Olympic-P11-Competition-Draw-Sheet-DAY-1-09-MAR-2024.pdf
  15. ^ "Ela Aydin". Ela Aydin (in German). Retrieved 14 September 2022.
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