| Tina Tanrıkulu | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tina Michelle Morgan 10 August 1982 Townsville, Australia |
| Residence | Perth, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Style | Taekwondo |
| Teacher(s) | Jin-Tae Jeong, Daniel Trenton |
| Occupation | Taekwondo coach |
| Spouse | Bahri Tanrıkulu |
Tina Michelle Tanrıkulu (née Morgan, born 10 August 1982) is an Australian taekwondo coach and former international competitor.[1][2] She represented her country at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, placing fifth in the latter competition. In 2006, Morgan became the first Australian taekwondo competitor to win a World Cup title.[1] She currently works as the coach for Turkish taekwondo club Ankaragücü.[3]
Contents |
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for Australia | ||
| Women's Taekwondo | ||
| World Taekwondo Championships | ||
| Bronze | 2003 Germany | Lightweight 59–63 kg |
| World Cup | ||
| Gold | 2006 Bangkok | Welterweight 63–67 kg |
| Asian Championships | ||
| Silver | 2002 Jordan | Featherweight 55–59 kg |
Morgan was born on 10 August 1982 in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.[1] She moved to Perth as a child and completed her secondary schooling at Woodvale Senior High School.[1] She recalls first having been inspired to become an Olympic athlete when watching the weightlifting competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics.[1] Originally, she had planned to compete in gymnastics, but was told she would grow too tall; she then tried other sports.[1]
In 1994, Morgan was inspired to begin training in taekwondo after watching her brother training in the martial art at the local gymnasium.[1] During her school years, she was also a Western Australian state champion in competitive aerobics, as well as playing football, netball, and tennis.[1]
Morgan earned a tertiary diploma in tourism management in Victoria and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Southern Queensland.[1] At national and international level, she trained in taekwondo at the Western Australian Institute of Sport and the Victorian Institute of Sport.[1] Her Olympic coaches have included Jin-Tae Jeong (from 2002–2004) and Daniel Trenton (from 2005–2008).[1]
Morgan was listed at 173 cm (5' 8") in height and 64 kg (141 lb.) in weight.[1] She competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens (+67 kg) and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (–67 kg). Morgan lost her first match in Athens against Brazilian athlete Natália Falavigna da Silva.[2] In 2006, Morgan became the first Australian taekwondo athlete to win a World Cup Title and to be ranked Number 1 in the world in her division.[1]
Morgan managed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics despite sustaining a major knee injury less than a year before Olympic Qualifications, with orthopaedic Surgeon Hayden Morris performing a repair operation using donor tissue to reduce recovery time.[4] The operation involved transplanting a deceased person's patella tendon into Morgan's knee.[4] Her hopes of fighting for a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics were dashed when she lost a third-round match to Canadian Karine Sergerie on decision.[5][6] Morgan eventually placed fifth after she lost the bronze medal match against French competitor Gwladys Épangue 4-1.[2]
On 29 January 2009, Morgan married Turkish taekwondo competitor and Olympic silver medallist Bahri Tanrıkulu in Perth.[7] At the time, Morgan said that she was looking forward to coaching future taekwondo competitors.[7]