Shepp taekwondo star beats Australian No. 1 as proteges clinch medal haul on Gold Coast

Continuing to enhance the Goulburn Valley’s burgeoning reputation as a regional capital in the world of martial arts, the athletes competing out of Koryo Taekwondo Centre did not disappoint as they descended on Queensland.

Between June 18-21, Rachele and his fledglings took to the Dojang at Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre, as they came away with 18 medals between them across three days of international competition.

For Rachele, he came away with four golds, as well as silver and bronze medals, with the highlight of his stay on the Gold Coast coming as he defeated Australian number one Dennis Park en route to a famous victory.

To cap off a proud run for the Shepparton para athletes too, Brendon Leeder won three golds, while Damon Vasternick won two bronze medals and a silver, Brodie Fitzgerald took two silvers and a bronze and Allena Nigro won three silvers.

These triumphs meant these youngsters gained qualification for the 2026 Australian Para Poomsae Squad, meaning they will represent their country on the international stage later this year at a location yet to be confirmed.

Rachele will also accompany those selected during the Australian campaign, having been appointed as a coach as his disciples embark on what promises to be a captivating championship run.

Reflecting on the impressive showings from his students, Koryo Taekwondo Centre owner Rachele beamed with pride.

“The four athletes have been coming with me to performance pathways training for the past couple of months to prepare for this competition,” he told the News.

“The championships were incorporated with the Para World Championship selection process so we had three days of competition on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“We got there on the Tuesday and there was a full-day training camp for the para athletes so we did a session with them and then Wednesday was classification day to make sure each athlete was in the right division.

“Brendon (Leeder) was a big standout after being out of competition for a while, winning three golds, young Damon (Vasternick) and Brodie (Fitzgerald) were in the same division and clocked up a couple of wins and Allena (Nigro) had a really good three days.”

In terms of what the group learned over the course of the week in Queensland, Rachele believes that the experience will stand his students in good stead moving forward.

“The experience for them was probably a bit overwhelming in a way with six courts in one room, with three or four in another with a lot of background music - plus walking in front of so many people and performing,” he said.

“It’s going to put them in good stead for the World Championships, it’s been great practice overall!

“Everybody improved through the competition, including myself - I got two gold on the last day and beat the guy who is ranked number one for the world championship so it was a huge weekend for everyone.”

For Rachele himself, he will be hoping that these championships will have provided him with ample preparation for the 2026 World Taekwondo Poomsee Championships in South Korea from September 16 to 20.

Having previously won gold at the Commonwealth Games, the star is determined to add a World Championships gold to his collection later in the year.

“It was really good practice, there were athletes from so many countries around the world including Japan, New Zealand, India and Uzbekistan as it was an event where you get world ranking results,” he added.

“So to come up against international players was good and it’s probably the last big competition before we go overseas!”