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Taekwondo enjoys a special status in when it comes to – having gained popularity alongside a growing reputation��as a��gateway to success for Jordan in international .

There is no doubt that when��taekwondo athlete won gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro for the under 68 kg category, this gave a big boost to the game’s popularity in the country.

From the breathtaking Roman Amphitheatre of Amman to the Makuhari Messe Hall.
. . .
من قمة المدرج الروماني في عمان الى قاعة منافسات مكوهاري في أولمبياد طوكيو.

— Jordan Olympic (JOC) (@JordanOlympic)

Jordan will be sending its biggest team ever to the upcoming Tokyo Olympics (having first sent a team to participate in the Olympic Games in 1980), with 14 athletes having qualified to represent the kingdom in 8 different disciplines.

At the forefront of these is Saleh Sharabati from the taekwondo team, who qualified for the under 80kg category preliminary rounds of the Asian qualifiers in Jordan last May. Sharabati joined his colleague Juliana al-Sadiq who qualified before him at the same session.

Sharabati has emphasised that he has his eye on the gold medal in Tokyo. He has spoken about his beginnings in the sport, revealing his childhood obsession��with��the world-famous actor Jackie Chan which��sparked his passion for Taekwondo. He started learning the sport in 2006, when he was just seven – going on to forge a successful career in the martial art.

Sharabati adds that he has a deep love for sports, and has made steady progress as a taekwondo athlete. He first joined the Jordanian team in 2009 in the under 80kg category and has since won a series��of prizes which he dedicates to his family. These include gold and silver medals in the Asian Championships; gold and silver medals in the Grand Prix Championships and the bronze medal in the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. ����

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click