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Kay Poe, USA
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| Destination: |
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2000 Sydney Olympics taekwondo competition |
| Traveling from: |
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Houston, Texas |
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Personal: |
| Age: |
18
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At age 8, after her second tournament, Poe walked into her taekwondo
instructor's office to talk about her goals in the sport, which included more
competition and earning a black belt. Since then she has accomplished both, and
then some. Poe won the Olympic Test Event at the end of 1999, a dress rehearsal
for the Summer Games. Despite feeling under the weather with the flu and
fighting off stomach cramps, Poe defeated three challengers -- including Yuee
Gao of China, who had defeated her in the quarterfinals of the 1999 World
Championships -- en route to the
gold.
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| Achievements: |
| 2000 | U.S. Open Championships (Fin),
2nd |
| 1999 | Olympic Test Event (Fly), 1st |
| 1999 | Pan American Games (Fly), 2nd |
| 1999 | World Olympic Qualification Tournament (Fly),
1st |
| 1999 | U.S. National Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1999 | U.S. Open Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1998 | Pan American Championships (Fin),
2nd |
| 1998 | World Cup Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1998 | U.S. National Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1997 | World Championships (Fin), 3rd |
| 1997 | O Denmark Open Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1997 | U.S. National Championships (Fin),
1st |
| 1996 | Pan American Championships (Fin),
2nd
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| 1996 | U.S. Junior Olympic Championships (Fin),
2nd |
| 1996 | U.S. National Championships (Fin),
1st |
| Currently: |
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Poe, who competes in the finweight division (flyweight in Olympic competition),
started the year with a silver medal at the U.S. Open. But in April she suffered
a disappointing loss in the second round of the 2000 World Cup Taekwondo
Championships. Poe has already qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in the
Women's Olympic Flyweight division by winning the gold medal at the World
Olympic Qualification Championships in 1999 in
Croatia.
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