Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Ícaro Miguel Martins Soares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Belo Horizonte, Brazil | 29 April 1995||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home town | São Caetano do Sul, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 80 kg (176 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Taekwondo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University team | Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ícaro Miguel Martins Soares (born 29 April 1995) is a Brazilian taekwondo athlete who won a silver medal at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships on the men's heavyweights. [1]
He represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [2] [3] [4]
Icaro suffered a domestic accident at the age of six, when he lost 90% of the vision in his right eye. Disability does not prevented him from developing as a fighter, to the point of becoming one of the top athletes in the world. [4]
At the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships, Ícaro was eliminated on his debut by Chinese Jintao Liu. The Brazilian had an advantage in the first two rounds (13 to 9), but suffered a comeback in the last two and ended up defeated 19 to 17. [5]
At the 2018 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Spokane, USA, he won the silver medal in the 87 kg category. [6]
At the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships held in Manchester, United Kingdom, Ícaro achieved a historic result by reaching the final and obtaining the silver medal. [7] [8]
At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, he reached the final, but was defeated by Miguel Angel Trejo (19-17) and took the silver medal in the under 80 kg category. [9]
In April 2020, Ícaro became the leader of the world rankings in the under-87kg category. Furthermore, he came to occupy fourth position in the Olympic category up to 80kg. He was the first Brazilian taekwondist ever to top the world rankings. [10]
At the 2021 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Cancún, Mexico, Ícaro won his first title in the -87 kg category. [11] [12]
Ícaro participated in the 2020 Olympic Games, being eliminated in the first round. [13]
At the 2022 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Ícaro won his second title in the tournament by obtaining the gold medal in the 87 kg category. [14]
At the 2022 South American Games held in Asunción, Paraguay, he won the gold medal in the +80kg category. [15]
At the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships, Ícaro, despite having won silver in the previous World Championship in the under-87kg category and being leader of the Olympic ranking in the heavyweight category, lost in his debut to Abolfazl Abbasi Pouya, from Iran. [16]
Ícaro is the first Latin American to remain at the top of the world rankings for a long time: he spent three years as the best in the world until leaving this position in mid-2023. [17]
At the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships, Ícaro won his first fight, but, in the round of 16, he faced a tough opponent: Kang Sang-hyun, from South Korea, the main power in taekwondo, and ended up being eliminated. The Korean ended up being the tournament champion. [18]