The agreement signed between Malta Taekwondo Association President, Anna Vassallo, and the Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation chairman, Chungwon Choue, earlier in March 2023, paved the way for two refugee athletes, Mamadou Balde (from Guinea) and Saydou Diao (from Senegal) to be able to achieve their dreams by competing abroad. Also, the aim of the collaboration between the two organizations is to promote taekwondo as a powerful vehicle towards peace, social development and integration of vulnerable populations, notably refugees, finding its expression by supporting these two refugees athletes, living in Malta.
Mamadou Balde, a refugee practicing Taekwondo, arrived in Malta in 2015 after travelling through Africa. He has already won medals in important Tournaments. Malta Taekwondo Association President Anna Vassallo said: “Mamadou is very dedicated to Taekwondo and his work. His Trainer and Coach, Gianluca Barbara, registered him to compete in the 7th Asterix Cup in Nis, Serbia, thanks to the support of the THF. Even if this participation was doubtful at first due to visa reasons where Mamadou was detained in Serbia on his first night, he achieved a bronze medal the day of his competition, which is a proof of his talent.”
The day of the Tournament, Balde hit a hard draw after having encountered experienced Serbian athlete Dimitrije Ajdukovic, in the semi finals. Despite a hard fought display, featuring many of Mamadou’s techniques, Ajdukovic bagged a 2-0 win. Result aside, the competition marked a good starting point as the Guinean-born athlete eyes his next challenges.
The next Taekwondo Tournament for Balde will be at the Albania Open G1 in Tirana – commencing on September 30th September and the Israel Open G1 which will commence on the 5th November 2023. On his first night in Albania, Mamadou will also be training in one of the top clubs, Villaznia Taekwondo.
On the 23rd July, Balde together with members of the ‘Iron Taekwondo League’ participated in the greatest obstacle course races (OCRs) on the island of Malta. From rope climbing to trudging muddy trenches, the trail ran a distance of 5 Km and featured no less than 20 obstacles strewn across Ta Qali’s picnic park and Malta’s National Football Stadium. Together, the ITL Team hit the heat and completed the race in one hour.
Unfortunately, Saydou Diao is still waiting for his documents to be processed to be allowed to travel for International competitions. Saydou, had won a bronze medal in the Invitational Games which was organised by the Maltese Olympic Committee for all small states. It was Diao’s ever senior ranked competition, a World Taekwondo G2. He won his 1st round but unfortunately Saydou lost the 2nd round against a talented fighter from San Marino. In this exiting final encounter, Saydou narrowly missed out on a win in the final round by a few points.
