BRYCE Altman is Australia’s number one.
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Following a successful trip to Melbourne for the Australian Taekwondo Open, Altman walked away from the competition with the gold medal in the 15 to 17 years under 68kg division.
The win elevates Altman to number one in the whole of Australia for his age and weight.
It’s a fantastic result and worthy achievement for Altman, who has dedicated countless hours to training and honing his skill.
There were 10 competitors in Altman’s division at the start of Open, and he won through to the medal rounds, overcoming some talented opponents along the way.
New Zealand’s number one ranked fighter was among those Altman defeated to get to the medal rounds.
In his first match in the medal round, Altman defeated his opponent Oliver Clarke 5-2 with a stunning head kick in the final seconds of the third round, progressing to the gold medal match.
Altman’s gold medal match was against Ben Harvey from Western Australia.
Harvey is a tough competitor and ranked at number one going into the competition.
The match up between Altman and Harvey was expected to be a tight and hard contest, and it did not fail to deliver on this expectation.
At the end of the first round the scores were still locked at 0-0.
At the end of the second round Altman had managed to snatch a 2-1 lead but with both competitors giving their all the match could easily have gone either way at that point.
Altman held on, however, to win the match in the third round 6-4 and claim the gold medal.
The win has continued a great year for Altman, who has also won gold medals at the Gold Coast Open and the Blue Mountains Taekwondo Championships (held in Lithgow), as well as a trip to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) as part of the development program to train with the current Taekwondo Olympians and receiving coaching from Australian Olympic coaches.
Altman is a valued member of Lithgow’s Haktari Taekwondo Academy community and would like to give his thanks to Haktari’s Master Jeff Crane Crane and sponsor Glenn Bower from Recoup for their ongoing and continued support.
