Seven athletes from the Ballito area on the North Coast have returned from Italy with the overall team title from a major continental championship, giving South African taekwondo a result to celebrate on the international stage.
The squad competed at the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) European Championships and Open European Cup, staged in Roana in northern Italy from September 7 to 14. Facing athletes representing eight countries, the GTF South African team claimed top team honours, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan and Bulgaria.
The result matters beyond the medal count. Every single member of the squad won at least two medals, a rare sweep of collective achievement that underscores the depth of talent in the local group. Athletes contested three disciplines: sparring, patterns and special technique.
Fabien Durocher-Yvon and Scelo Jabulani Patrick Mthembu led the way with four gold medals each. Muhammad Jawad Rajahussen and Linda Smit claimed three golds apiece, while Dominic Judge and Lily Rae Faulds each earned two golds and one silver. Dave Sidney Raper rounded out the haul with two silvers.
For Smit, the outcome was the product of sustained commitment from the whole group rather than individual brilliance alone. She said she was proud of all the athletes for their shared achievement.
“Many months of preparation, hard work and dedicated practice for this championship have paid off,” said Smit.
She also pointed to the network behind the competitors. “We would like to thank every athlete for their dedication and outstanding efforts, as well as the parents for their encouragement and support throughout the journey,” she said.
The triumph speaks to what sustained community effort can deliver. Behind each medal lie months of training sessions, family sacrifice and the quiet discipline of athletes who balance their sporting ambitions with everyday life. That a group from one coastal region could outperform teams from established taekwondo nations such as Kazakhstan and Bulgaria offers encouragement to young sportspeople across the country who may wonder whether international success is within reach.
It also reflects on the health of the sport itself. Competitions of this scale depend on athletes being prepared across multiple categories, from the physical demands of sparring to the precision required in patterns and special technique. The spread of medals across all seven team members suggests the preparation was thorough and evenly shared, not reliant on a handful of star performers.
Meanwhile, the broader field in Roana underlined the scale of the achievement. The GTF European Championships and Open European Cup brought together competitors from eight countries, making the South African team’s overall victory notable for a squad competing far from home. Team honours at this level are earned through accumulated results across the field, and the consistency shown in Roana carried the group past strong opposition.
The achievement also belongs, in part, to the families and supporters the athletes acknowledged. The journey to an international championship is rarely a solo undertaking, and the gratitude expressed by the team points to the role that parents and the wider community played in getting the competitors to Italy and supporting them through the event.
For now, the medals and the team trophy stand as tangible evidence of what the group accomplished. Seven athletes, three disciplines, and a podium finish ahead of two established teams: it is a record that will resonate in the Ballito area and among taekwondo practitioners across South Africa, and one that shows how dedication over many months can translate into recognition on an international stage. Whether this group can build on the result at future championships may be the next question for the sport’s growing base of young athletes.