Tess Whittet
Staff Writer
Chloe Towns fought her way to victory in Mexico.
Mira Costa senior and taekwondo athlete Chloe Towns travelled to Tijuana, Mexico on Oct. 1 and 2 to compete in The Binational Tournament, where she crushed her opponents and won the tournament in the female junior featherweight division.
“My goals in the tournament were to work on new techniques and build an international reputation before Worlds in November,” Towns said.
The Binational Tournament is hosted by Baja TaeKwonDo Federation of Mexico and is highest competitors from Mexico, and California. The event included teams from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and The United States. Towns’ division included three other participants.
“It was a good experience to learn how to fight athletes from different countries, and Mexican fighter’s styles are way different compared to Americans,” Towns said.
Towns fought two very successful fights in the Binational Tournament against two girls from Baja, California, winning 15-2 and 16-0. Towns won by such a large margin in her matches, they ended her fights early.
“I was really happy with her ability to read her opponents and adjust to each style,” Chloe’s mother, Eve Towns said. “This will be critical as she goes to Worlds.”
Towns’ success in this pastis tournament and other recent games and her other recent wins, gives her the opportunity to move forwardShe is now. rwins allowed to compete at the Junior World Championships in Burnaby, Canada, and AAU, which qualifies her to compete at The German Open in 2017.
“This year has been amazing for her since all the competitions she has been in, she won first place,” Towns’ coach Dean Vargas said.
Towns started taekwondo when she was four and won her first major competition, The 2012 U.S. Open, on her thirteenth birthday. Towns now spends her time practicing every day of the week, except for Sunday. She often practices twice a day for four to six hours.
“Her endless hours of practice, the late nights studying to keep her grades high and her ability to control her weight, requires a commitment that seems nearly impossible,” Eve Towns said. “I am honestly amazed at how she manages to keep it all together.”
Towns is planning to compete on November 12 in the Junior World Championship with Team USA, which according to Eve Towns, is the most prestigious competition in her sport. She will be fighting against the top athletes from over a hundred different countries.
“Taekwondo has taken me places I would likely never go and introduced me to athletes of all different backgrounds,” Towns said. “Its given me a purpose in life.”
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