Faith Dillon (born June 23, 2002) is an American taekwondo athlete. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | June 23, 2002 Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | DeVry University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 57 kg (126 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Taekwondo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | –57 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editDillon was born to Brendan and Doison Dillon in Waterbury, Connecticut, and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.[1][2] She began training in taekwondo at five years old, after seeing the television series Jackie Chan Adventures.[3] She attended West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas.[4]
Career
editDillon made her senior international debut for the United States in June 2021 at the 2021 Pan American Taekwondo Championships and won a bronze medal in the women's 57 kg event.[5]
In May 2022, she competed at the 2022 Pan American Taekwondo Championships and won a bronze medal in the women's 62 kg event.[6] In November 2022, she competed in the women's lightweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In June 2023, she competed in the women's lightweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Later that month she then competed at the 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome, Italy and won a bronze medal in the women's 57 kg event.[7] In December 2023, she competed at the 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester, United Kingdom and won a silver medal in the women's 57 kg event, losing to Luo Zongshi.[8]
In January 2024, she competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials and defeated 2022 world champion Makayla Greenwood to advance to the 2024 Pan American Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament.[9][10] Later that month at the Fujairah Open she fractured the metacarpal bone in her ring finger after an axe kick to her hand. She underwent surgery and missed three to four weeks of action.[11] In April 2024, during the Olympic Qualification Tournament, she won her semifinal match and qualified to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[12][13][14]
References
edit- ^ "Faith Dillon". teamusa.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Silverman, Drew (May 8, 2024). "Taekwondo Standout Faith Dillon Riding High Heading Into First Olympic Experience". teamusa.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Jourdan, Kristi (August 15, 2011). "Young North Las Vegas resident dreams of making the Olympics". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Hogan, Jan (October 27, 2016). "Las Vegas freshman rising to the top in national taekwondo tournaments". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Hernandez, Carlos (June 4, 2021). "Results Panamerican Taekwondo Championship (Day 2)". mundotaekwondo.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Hernandez, Carlos (May 4, 2022). "Results Senior Division Kyrougy XXII Panamerican Taekwondo Championships 2022 #Puntacana (Day 2)". mundotaekwondo.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ "Great Britain and Uzbekistan capture gold on opening day of Roma 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix". World Taekwondo. June 9, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ "Opening day of Manchester 2023 Grand Prix Final delivers gold for Italy, Thailand, Hungary, China and Korea". World Taekwondo. December 2, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ "Rising taekwondo athletes take out Olympic, world champions at U.S. trials". NBC Sports. January 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Goulding, Grace (May 6, 2024). "Meet the US Taekwondo team for Paris 2024 Olympic Games". olympics.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Preusler, Christine (July 29, 2024). "UF Health Helps Team USA Taekwondo Athlete Faith Dillon Get Back to Fighting Shape". ufhealth.org. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Khalatyan, Rafael (April 11, 2024). "USA and Brazil secure three Olympic berths in Taekwondo Pan-Am qualifiers". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Smith, Shawn (August 3, 2024). "Taekwondo 101: U.S. Olympic roster and athlete news". NBColympics.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
- ^ Wollard, Jeff (July 17, 2024). "Las Vegan fulfills potential on taekwondo mat, makes US Olympic team". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
External links
edit- Faith Dillon profile at World Taekwondo
- Faith Dillon at Team USA