Gunning wins silver medal after first national fight
SHE may only be 13-years-old, but Mia Gunning is already an Australian champion in her chosen sport of taekwondo.
Having just competed at her first Taekwondo Australian National Championships and Festival in Sydney last month, she returned back to Kingston with a silver medal around her neck.
The teenager said she was proud of her efforts, especially since she only began competing for the first time earlier this year.
"In Sydney I competed in poomsae which is a pattern of movement and sparring, which is where you fight one on one against another person," she said.
"I competed against six other people in my division.
"I won my first two fights and lost my last fight.
"But I was still really happy when I won my silver medal."
Mia said she was inspired to be involved in the sport after her father Matt Gunning, who is also highly involved in the sport, taught her some sparring moves at a young age.
Since then, she has trained up to twice a week and has now received her black belt.
She said taekwondo was a fun sport and enjoyed both training and competing.
"I like sparring where I go out and fight against other people," she said.
"Taekwondo is a sport where you need to have a lot of endurance to last throughout the rounds.
"I train a couple of days a week where I practice my kicking with training pads and sparring."
With competitions winding up for the year, Mia said she planned to continue training hard in preparation for next year's titles.
