Kurdish athlete takes home silver in international Taekwondo competition

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Yalda Qadri, 28, was awarded a silver medal at the 2026 World Taekwondo Hanmadang tournament in South Korea’s capital, she proudly told Rudaw on Thursday.

“For me, it was a very joyful and proud feeling to participate in this grand championship,” said Qadri, after securing second place for knife-hand power breaking. 

Qadri was the only female participant from the Kurdistan Region team consisting of nine athletes. 

The tournament gathered 4,261 participants from 61 countries, featuring 170 competitive events across 15 disciplines in both individual and team categories. It lasted from August 1 until Wednesday. 

Unlike standard Olympic-style sparring tournaments, Hanmadang judges on martial arts demonstrations, traditional technique mastery, breaking, and form. 

“We managed to convince them and were able to wear the sacred flag of Kurdistan on our shoulders and bring it onto the stage,” Qadri noted, highlighting initial difficulties in taking the flag to the event. 

“Receiving my medal while having the sacred flag of Kurdistan on my shoulders to record this honor - first for myself and then for all of Kurdistan - was truly a moment of pure joy for me,” she recounted. 

“I felt immensely proud.”