05 Oct Chuncheon 2024 World Taekwondo Junior Championships

Junior Worlds, fifth place finish

Raw Taekwondo student and world class athlete Lauren Dunsmore attended the 2024 Junior World Championship in Chuncheon, Korea this October where she represented Team GB in the -44kg weight division.

Lauren competed on day four of the competition, alongside GB coach. The first match was against Algeria having beaten Canada in the previous round,  She wasted no time at all racking up her points in a concise and confident manner. She finished with a comfortable 2-0 win.

Next up Lauren faced Jordan, another good opponent who beat Oman to progress to this round. Jordan carries a good reputation in Taekwondo competition including Olympic medals. Lauren did not let this phase her and started the match very aggressively to set the tone, managing the match well and using good ring management to control the outcome of the match. She fought in a professional and calculated way, giving her the 2-0 win she needed to progress into the quarter finals.

Finally, Lauren stepped onto the mats against a formidable Korean opponent. Fighting an athlete on home ground was never going to be a simple task but Lauren took this all in her stride to face her next opponent in the draw. Lauren fought well against a highly skilled opponent under immense pressure. She bowed out, after a 2-0 loss to Korea who went on to win silver overall, in her defeat to Chinese Taipei. Lauren finished in fifth place in her division out of 43 world class athletes and placed higher of all the GB athletes in her team making her the most successful Junior of GB’s tournament.

We are very proud of Laurens performance and achievements at the competition and as part of her training and dedication to get there. We can’t wait to see what’s next for her in her Taekwondo career.