Tina's Story
Tina Tanrikulu (nee Morgan) was born in Townsville and began taekwondo at the age of 11, inspired by taekwondo becoming an Olympic sport. Tina was a reserve for the Sydney 2000 Team but qualified for the Athens Olympic Games in style, winning gold at the 2003 Olympic Qualifiers. The disappointment of a first round Olympic loss led her to ‘unofficially’ retire from the sport after the 2004 Games to continue her Psychology degree, but she returned to the World Championships with little preparation and reached the quarterfinals. In 2005 she also won the Korean Open and then became the first Australian to win a World Cup in Bangkok in 2006. Tina returned to Olympic competition at Beijing in 2008 and reached the quarterfinal contest, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal.
