YES alumna Juwana Mohamed (YES 2016 - 2017, Bahrain, hosted by PAX) won a gold medal in Taekwondo at the GCC Women Sport Games in Kuwait on October 25th. An active national athlete in Taekwondo, Juwana won against her opponent from Saudi Arabia in a knockout during her final match. For 15 years, Juwana has been practicing taekwondo since she started when she was five years old.

Taekwondo is Juwana’s passion as she shares, “Taekwondo has a giant impact on my life, making me better in everything I do. I like it because it taught me not just kicks and punches, but also self-discipline and perseverance. Taekwondo has helped me in both mind and body, making me stronger, more confident, giving me a better work ethic, and making me more serious with everything.” 

Juwana spent extensive time training and dieting to prepare for the match as she explains, “I trained six days a week, twice a day and each session is two to three hours! It was very difficult for me to manage between college and training when I had to wake up every day at 5 am for my first session. I also had to control my weight. Those three months were the hardest months I have ever been through, but my coach was always there supporting me. I also believed that all the hard work I gave would definitely pay off at my competition.”

In her final match, Juwana won in a knockout against her opponent from Saudi Arabia. Juwana describes a ‘knockout,’ as, “A single powerful blow to the head. If the participant then falls to the ground, and is unable to rise to their feet within the 10 seconds count, they are counted as having been ‘knocked out’ and their opponent wins.”

The Bahraini team alongside Juwana won six golden medals and one bronze in the sporting competition. Juwana mentioned, “Knockouts rarely happens in GCC competitions, I am glad to be the first woman to do it! The feeling of knocking out someone during a match is something to be proud of because it showed me that hard work doesn’t go to waste! I am beyond happy and grateful for my parents for being there supporting me and my sisters!”