KICK OF THE NORTH STAR

Number one athletes are often handsome people. Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Kakà. I am getting more and more convinced that there is a fil rouge connecting beauty and talent in sport. And when it comes to aesthetic sports like diving, figure skating, gymnastics, and - of course - taekwondo Poomsae, sometimes I am driven to think that beauty provides an unbeatable, untrainable added value to the presentation score. This can be the case of Roosa Närhi, Finland Senior 1 Champion. Now look at her yopchagi. A very high kick is not always a beautiful kick. Back, hips and legs can get overturned to bring the foot higher, thus compensating some limitations on the flexibility side. Roosa's sidekick instead has the triumphal shape of an equestrian statue. Her front leg leads the charge pointing up and forward, her kicking foot is perfectly parallel to the ground, and her stern refulgent expression adds the solemn charm of an ice Amazon. Gorgeous.

(Photos courtesy of Aleksandar Golović)

WILD WILD ELIF

One personality that really couldn't go unnoticed at Genova 2011 is the junior European champion Elif Yilmaz, from Turkey. She's got everything she needs: cold blood, incredible high kicks, and the proud killer look you could expect from a warrior princess. What you couldn't expect, though, is how Elif's vibrant personality is constantly drawing attention even when she's not busy on the tatami. The first time I saw her was on the stands, during her father's competition. Elif was standing in front of the first row of seats in order to take photos. When some people kindly asked her to get out of their sights, she put on one of the scariest faces I've ever seen, thus silencing her unwanted interlocutors. A few moments later, when the first score appeared on the screens, she ran away crying with joy, without even waiting for her father's final exercise, which would actually crown Mustafa Yilmaz European Master 1 champion. The next day, she had just secured her gold medal with a flawless performance when I met her again on the stands, having a conversation with a couple of guys from another national team. <<Really? Am I first?>>. She was dominating the competition and she didn't even know!! Apart from her glorious smile on the podium, the last memory of her I retain is Elif having a souvenir T-shirt signed by all her foreign athlete friends... while she was wearing it. Irresistible Elif.

(Photos courtesy of Aleksandar Golović)