Since about one year ago, Mahdi Khodabakhshi has been fighting with the colors of Serbia, the country with which he won a medal in the last WTE President’s Cup held from February 18 to 21, 2020 in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Mahdi married a Serbian and that led him to choose to stay in Belgrade and become a member of the “Taekwondo Klub Galeb”, Dojang led since 1991 by the distinguished Olympic coach Dragan Jović, where the biggest stars of Serbian Taekwondo came from.

“Dragan Jovic is an exceptional coach and the transition to his training system was perfect for me,” the World Champion recently stated.

Dragan Jović showed a high-level online Taekwondo class

 

Like any athlete, Mahdi’s main objective is the Olympics. He reached the quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro and now he wants to get an Olympic medal for Serbia in Paris 2024.

“I have received permission from the Iran Olympic Committee and the Iran Taekwondo Federation to compete for Serbia. For now, I am participating in the G1 and G2 tournaments to collect as many points as possible, but to participate in the European Championship, Grand Prix or Grand Slam, I need Serbian citizenship, “explained Khodabakhshi.

 

 

“Mahdi is an extremely important part of the team. His Iranian style is very evident and that is good, they are one of the greatest powers that exist in Taekwondo. Mahdi’s experience is very rich and not only positive for our club but also for this country. I am very optimistic that he can win a medal at the Olympics,” said Dragan Jovic.

Born in Tehran in 1991, Mahdi Khodabakhshi is a true 190 cm machine and almost 90 Kg., who throughout his career knew how to reach great successes and today joins forces with other great world figures such as Milica Mandic, Tijana Bogdanovic, Vanja Stankovic, Budimir Krivokuca, Dmitry Nagaev, among many others.

 

Alex Siliezar & Claudio Aranda, Exclusive MasTKD.com