The Southwest Voice

larger view

Olivia Bryant is an 11 year old black belt, in the art and sport of taekwondo. She finished first winning the gold medal in the 11-12 lightweight division at the annual Jimmy Kim Invitational Taekwondo Championship (www.thejki.com) held on Saturday, September 27, 2008 at the Walter Pyramid on the campus of Cal State Long Beach.

Olivia had three fights on her way to the gold winning the first two by point gap (7 point gap ends the contest). Her first match was against Evangeline Tsai of California which ended 11-4 her second match of the day was against Rebeca Acuna of Mexico 7-0, with the final victory over Justine Junio of California which ended in a much closer 8-6 win for Olivia.

The clear high point of the day was the fight with Rebeca Acuna which left those in attendance in shock. In a match that was scheduled for two 90 second rounds, Olivia reached the point gap ending the match in an unprecedented 15 seconds. The entire match can be seen here.

This marks the beginning of her 2008-2009 tournament season and she's off to a great start! More information on her upcoming competitions & training, will be posted on her website at www.teamlibbytkd.com.

Team Libby Taekwondo  - Because Champions Don't Start Training At 35!