Rabat – The Royal Moroccan Taekwondo Federation has announced the names of the four Moroccan martial artists who will compete in the African qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The selection committee chose athletes who have demonstrated their physical and mental capacity to deliver superior performances during the qualifiers.
The committee chose Oumaima El Bouchti, ranked eighth in the world for the -49 kilogram weight class, and Nada Laaraj, ranked 11th in the world for the -57 kilogram weight class, to compete in the women’s division.
Both female martial artists helped the Moroccan women’s team to earn third place at the 2018 World Taekwondo World Cup Team Championships in Wuxi, China.
The committee chose Omar Lakhel, ranked 17th in the world for the -58 kilogram weight class, and Achraf Mahboubi, ranked 23rd in the world for the -80 kg weight class, to compete in the men’s division.
Achraf Mahboubi enjoyed great success in 2019, earning bronze medals at the July Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome, Italy and the November Taekwondo Grand Slam tournament in Wuxi.
The committee did not select Fatima-Zahra Abou Fares, gold medalist at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, to compete in the qualifiers. The young athlete sustained a severe injury to her Achilles tendon during the Youth Olympic Games and is therefore unable to meet the level required to qualify for Tokyo 2020, despite her trainer’s efforts.
The qualifiers will take place in Rabat on February 22 and 23.
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