Panipak Wongpattanakit
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Panipak Wongpattanakit (Thai: พาณิภัค วงศ์พัฒนกิจ; RTGS: Phaniphak Wongphatthanakit, nickname Tennis; born 8 August 1997) is a retired Thai taekwondo athlete.[3] A two-time Olympic champion, she is currently the top-ranked athlete in the women's 49 kg.[4]
Born in Surat Thani, southern Thailand, Panipak is the youngest of three siblings. She lost her mother at a young age. Her father, a civil servant and teacher who loved sports, nicknamed his children after sports: Bowling, Baseball, and Tennis, respectively. Both her elder sister (Bowling) and brother (Baseball) were former swimmers.[citation needed]
Panipak started practicing taekwondo because she wanted to go to Phuket with a friend who was competing there. Her father agreed on the condition that she also compete. Although she was already practicing taekwondo at the time, she hadn't taken it seriously. After losing every match, she decided to focus seriously on the sport and eventually became a professional taekwondo athlete.[5]
Career
Panipak became a world champion at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, claiming a gold medal in the 46 kg event which was her first world title. She claimed a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the –49 kg class during her first Olympic appearance for Thailand.[6] She nearly quit taekwondo out of frustration after the Olympics and took a brief break from the sport for about two months.[7]
She claimed a bronze medal in the women's flyweight event at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships. She claimed her first Asian Games gold medal during the 2018 Asian Games in women's 49kg event. She won the gold medal in the women's flyweight event during the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships.[7] She was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year by the World Taekwondo during the 2019 World Taekwondo Gala Awards.[8][9]
She also represented Thailand at the 2020 Summer Olympics and claimed a gold medal in the women's 49kg event.[10][11][12] This win also became the first Olympic gold medal win for Thailand in taekwondo. Panipak was also awarded Thailand's first and only gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[13][14]
She won the silver medal in the women's flyweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan.[15] At the Rome Grand Prix in June 2023, she won her tenth gold medal in the women's 49 kg event, making her the first athlete to do so.[16]
In the 2024 Summer Olympics she won the gold medal again in the women's taekwondo 49kg category, becoming the first Thai athlete to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals and the first Thai three consecutive Olympic medalist.[17] Before the tournament, she announced that this would be her last match, as the training was too intense for her body.[18]
Personal life
After the 2024 Summer Olympics, she revealed that she was dating fellow taekwondo practitioner Ramnarong "Junior" Sawekwiharee but had to keep it a secret for nine years because there was a rule that prohibited national athletes from being lovers.[19]
Career highlights
Royal decorations
- 2020 –
Companion (Third Class) of The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn[20] - 2022 –
Companion (Fourth Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand[21]
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