African Taekwondo Silver medallist, Elizabeth Anyanacho told www.aclsports.com that her aim was to upset African number 1 in the women’s -67kg weight category.
Nigeria’s Elizabeth Anyanacho lost to two-time Olympic bronze medallist, Ruth Gbagbi in the -67kg women’s final at the ongoing 2023 African Senior Taekwondo Championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Sunday.
The 2019 African Games bronze medallist expressed delight fighting the three rounds in the final and not backing out.
She said, “First, I thank God for the courage and strength He gave me. I felt a little bit sad because I really wanted the gold, but I am happy that I fought till the end.
“Ruth Gbagbi is a very experienced, and tough opponent, so it was great to fight with the no 1 in Africa and a two-time Olympic Bronze medalist in my weight category.
The German based athlete said the next assignment is to focus on the forthcoming series of Olympic Qualifiers.
She said, “The next focus now would be towards the Olympic Qualification. By the grace of God, I am improving consistently, and I just need to keep up the hard work and continue competing to gain more experience”.
Anyanacho won a bronze medal in the -67kg (welterweight) at the Taiyuan 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Taiwan.
Anyanacho is one of the beneficiaries of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Scholarship at the Taekwondo Competence Center (TCC), Friedrichshafen in Germany.