Camille Naredo

Former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez. Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Pauline Lopez

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787359099370WhatsApp Image 2026-08-22 at 8.36.06 AM.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez. Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News"/>Former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez. Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA – After winning medals for the country on the international stage, former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is now helping create the next generation of champions through SHERO.Lopez and her students brought home an impressive 21-medal haul at the 19th World Taekwondo Culture Expo in South Korea last month.Team SHERO bagged 15 golds, three silvers, and three bronzes across kyorugi and poomsae events.Lopez said it is a full-circle moment to see her students winning medals on the international stage, four years after she founded SHERO and began coaching.<div><a class="fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/othersports/2026/5/23/homecoming-pauline-lopez-joins-coaching-staff-of-ateneo-taekwondo-team-1754">READ: Pauline Lopez joins coaching staff of Ateneo taekwondo team</a></div>&quot;It&#x27;s such a full-circle moment... Every win and every loss, I carry it deeply. When I look at them, I don&#x27;t just see the medals. I see the hours they put in, how they would roll an ankle and still return to the training session. It&#x27;s the hard work and discipline—that&#x27;s what I see,&quot; she told reporters at the SHERO Studio in Bonifacio Global City.&quot;Win or lose, it doesn&#x27;t matter. They handle it with grace. So yeah, I&#x27;m one proud coach,&quot; the two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist added.Beyond the medals, Lopez wants her students to learn from the experience and gain confidence for future competitions.&quot;First, it was a competition for us to experience. We didn&#x27;t expect any medals. It&#x27;s about them stepping on the court, building that confidence, and building their self-esteem. And also proving to themselves that, &#x27;I belong here,&#x27;&quot; Lopez said.&quot;The Philippine Taekwondo Association sends teams every year. But I thought, &#x27;You know what, maybe it&#x27;s time we should try it.&#x27; I&#x27;ve been coaching here for four years, and I think they&#x27;re ready,&quot; she added.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1787359130233WhatsApp Image 2026-08-22 at 8.36.07 AM.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Pauline Lopez with her students. Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News"/>Pauline Lopez with her students. Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News</div>Julio &quot;Moy&quot; Tubongbanua admitted feeling nervous at first, but he applied what he learned from his coaches, resulting in a gold-medal performance.&quot;When I first found out I was going to compete, siyempre kinabahan ako because that&#x27;s international. It was my first time, so I didn&#x27;t know what to do. But because of my coaches, I felt reassured and prepared to take on this challenge,&quot; he said.&quot;The main thing I did was trust in myself and trust my coaches. I accepted that if you&#x27;re nervous and your mind keeps overthinking, you will perform negatively,&quot; Tubongbanua shared.The 16-year-old shared one of the best pieces of advice he received from coach Raxel Penera ahead of the competition:&quot;You need to enjoy the sport, enjoy what you&#x27;re doing, and enjoy the process. Because when you do that, you&#x27;re not overly concerned about how you perform—just what&#x27;s the best thing you can do,&quot; he said.For Sophia Mendoza, who won gold in poomsae and silver in kyorugi, getting international exposure is key to leveling up.&quot;I learned where I stand on the international stage. Competing locally, there&#x27;s a standard and you already have an idea of how us Filipinos fight. But on the international stage, they have different standards and skills,&quot; she said.Mikaela Celestine Acosta is looking forward to training more consistently to elevate her skills and achieve more.&quot;I want to do even better than before. In training now, I don&#x27;t go very often because of my studies, and I find it hard to catch up sometimes. I think if I go more consistently, I can get even better,&quot; she said.Double gold medalist Isandra Sofia Redublo cherished the atmosphere of international competition, especially the bonding moments with her team.&quot;An experience I will always remember in Korea—aside from competing—was honestly the late-night talks I had with my teammates as we learned from each other and got to know one another,&quot; she shared.<div> </div>Poomsae Medalists:Gold: Kalix Riley Ducut, Julianna Lipana, Sophia Mendoza, Alanis Mendoza, Beatrice Surtida, Isandra Sofia Redublo, Leeon PimentelSilver: Alaina Bree DayaoBronze: Senri Pineda, Mikaela Celestine Acosta<div> </div>Kyorugi Medalists:Gold: Kalix Riley Ducut, Senri Pineda, Julio Tubongbanua, Alanis Mendoza, Beatrice Surtida, Isandra Sofia Redublo, Mikaela Celestine Acosta, Leeon PimentelSilver: Sophia Mendoza, Alaina Bree DayaoBronze: Julianna Lipana<div> </div>The SHERO athletes are set to return to action at the National Inter-School Taekwondo Championships this weekend as they target competing in Batang Pinoy later this year.

After winning medals for the country on the international stage, former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is now helping create the next generation of champions through SHERO.

After winning medals for the country on the international stage, former Asian taekwondo champion Pauline Lopez is now helping create the next generation of champions through SHERO.

Former taekwondo champ Pauline Lopez's students bag 21 medals in Korea

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Former taekwondo champ Pauline Lopez's students bag 21 medals in Korea

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 21, 2026 01:04 AM PHT

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Updated August 22, 2026 08:39 AM PHT

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taekwondo

Pauline Lopez

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