Olympic champion Viviana Márton claimed the gold medal in the women’s 62-kilogram category at the European Taekwondo Championships in Munich on Tuesday after defeating Spain’s Elsa Secanell Charles in the final.

The 20-year-old Hungarian athlete, who won Olympic gold in Paris two years ago, overcame a difficult start in the final. According to the Hungarian Taekwondo Association, Secanell Charles raced into an 8–0 lead early in the opening round. Márton, however, responded with an impressive comeback, producing a dominant attacking sequence to turn the contest around and take a 12–10 lead with 45 seconds remaining before eventually winning the round 16–10.

The second round remained closely contested throughout, with the score tied at 13–13 entering the final ten seconds. Márton managed to hold her position under pressure to secure victory and become European champion.

‘I am proud of myself for achieving this goal. I want to achieve everything possible at the European, world, and Olympic levels. Now that I have won European Championship gold after the Olympics, only the world championship title is missing from my collection,’ Márton said on the Hungarian federation’s website.

She also thanked the Hungarian federation and her club team, Hankuk, for supporting her success.

‘I am very happy that my sister won silver yesterday as well. She is becoming stronger and better again after her injury. We always wanted to grow together and move forward together, and this will continue in the future. When I retire, I want people to remember me as humble, modest, and supportive,’ she added.

Márton, who lives and trains in Madrid with her family and represents UTE in Hungary, entered the tournament as the top seed in a 21-athlete field. She received a first-round bye before defeating Estonia’s Carmen Raagmets 2–0 to reach the quarter-finals. She then beat Türkiye’s Hatice Pinar Yigitalp in straight rounds to guarantee herself a medal before comfortably overcoming Poland’s Julia Szpak 2–0 in the semi-finals.

Hungary also achieved success elsewhere at the championships. On Monday, Márton’s twin sister, Luana Márton, a three-time world champion, won silver in the women’s 67-kilogram division, while Kamilah Salim became European champion in the women’s 46-kilogram category.

Another Hungarian competitor on Tuesday, Gergely Salim Sharif, finished fifth in the men’s 58-kilogram division.

Related articles: