Los Gatos, December 21, 2022: The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) is proud to announce that two Los Gatos High School students, senior Annabelle Tai and sophomore Isabelle Tai, received a gold medal at the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) 2022 World Cup in Koper, Slovenia in October, ranking them world champions in their selected division for this competition.
After postponing the last World Cup due to the pandemic, the ITF World Cup hosted over 1,200 competitors from 52 different countries. The United States sent 42 competitors to this event and took home 6 gold medals, 2 of which were earned by Annabelle and Isabelle.
Facing dozens of competitors, Annabelle competed in the 14-17 3rd Degree Black Belt Junior Girls Patterns division and faced the Argentinian national champion to take gold in patterns (forms). Isabelle competed in the pre-junior 12-14 2nd Degree Black Belt Junior Girls division and outperformed her opponent from England winning a gold medal also in patterns (forms).
Annabelle is a 3rd dan (degree) black belt with 12 years of experience. She last competed on the world stage when she took the national title for patterns in 2019 and was the youngest member of Team USA at the World Championship in Germany.
Isabelle has been practicing Taekwondo for the last 10 years and has won numerous local and state titles. She has a 2nd dan (degree) black belt and competed in her first international competition this year. In May 2023, she will vie for the national title which would give her a spot on Team USA and allow her to compete at the World Championships in Finland.