María Borello: "We are at our best"

Member of the WTF Executive Council since 1996, Maria Borello has been a witness and protagonist of the most significant periods of Taekwondo.

It was Dr. Un Yong Kim himself (then President of WTF) who gave her his support to become an Executive Council Member, a post she has held during 21 years.

Holder of 6th Dan Kukkiwon, Borello always refers to Taekwondo in first person and considers many members of the Executive Council to be her lifelong companions. She highlights that the treatment she has received from each one of them reflects respect and equality and never received the slightest gesture of discrimination due to being a woman.

“Taekwondo has gone through many stages. During the last twenty years, I have seen a lot and experienced ups and downs, however we have managed to make it through and permanently we have gone uphill. I am convinced that at this moment, under Dr. Choue´s leadership, we are at our best and the recognition of organizations such as the IOC, the UN and even the Vatican itself support what I am saying”, María Borello explained to MasTKD.com.

She has been always called to work on the most important world scenarios, including, of course, the Olympic Games, from Sydney 2000 to Rio 2016.

The presence of women within sport and in this case, Taekwondo, has gained great relevance. While there are several women already working in leadership and technical tasks, undoubtedly, Borello, is, and has been for many years, the feminine symbol within the Taekwondo world.

As the head of the Guatemalan Taekwondo Federation, Borello has not only cared for the sport, but also has focused on social aspects such as: bringing Taekwondo to prisons with a social reintegration program, working with children with cancer under the program “Kicking Cancer”. Additionally, for more than ten years Taekwondo has been practiced by people with Down syndrome and Guatemala has attended almost all Para Taekwondo world championships. Presently, she is promoting native women and girls’ empowerment through a Taekwondo program being held in the rural area; a program that has caught attention of the national and international media.

Mary Borello was awarded with “Olympic Cross”

This Argentine-Guatemalan has received countless awards and recognitions throughout her career as a Taekwondo leader, but she feels most privileged and proud especially by three of them: The Award for Excellence signed by Jacques Rogge, President of International Olympic Committee at that time, as well as the one given to her in Seoul, where she received the Sports Merit Medal sent by the President of the Republic of South Korea, RohMoo-Hyun in 2003 and the most recent was the Olympic Cross delivered by the Guatemalan Olympic Committee.

“As a woman working in sports, especially in Taekwondo, it is very important to highlight the effort of so many colleagues, whom I feel so proud to see them work with honestly and passion. Just to name some, but being afraid of forgetting some others, I can mention, Neydis Tavarez, Andrea Mancuso, Nubia Segundo, Kana Svetlana, Elena Benitez, Sandra Magaly Peña, Marilu De Veer, Myriam Baverel”, emphasized Borello.

In an previous interview with MasTKD.com, Mary Borello said something that she ratifies today: