The New Britain High School student won two gold medals 

“(Hearing them announce) ‘First Place, USA, Ceana Rodriguez’ ... it was just an unbelievable feeling that I’m number one against all these different countries,” Rodriguez told the Herald from South Korea.

Rodriguez’s mother, Dinah Bissoni, who works a full-shift job and then drives her daughter to train daily, noted how special it was for Rodriguez to win in South Korea.

“To bring back a gold medal from where Taekwondo was born is an honored accomplishment,” Bissoni said.

Rodriguez battled a competitor from Uzbekistan in the final.

“We were both very cautious and very quick,” Rodriguez said.

Toward the end of the match, however, Rodriguez made her move.

“She came in with a kick and I blocked a kick that was so close to scoring and I reacted and popped her with a kick, and with three seconds left, she came rushing at me with everything she had to try to get the points back. I was blocking head shots and kicks,” Rodriguez said.

She is baffled by the Kukkiwon policy. “It’s 2015! What’s going on?” Cameron said. “It has been unbelievably stressful. How can this even be an issue in this day and age?”

Officials with U.S. Hanmadang have reached out to Kukkiwon through a series of letters and in-person and telephone conversations, but they said that they have received no commitment that would allow Cameron or other women to compete.

In an e-mail, HeeJin Choi, a representative of the Kukkiwon planning and strategy team, wrote that the group cannot have a women’s competition in power breaking because there is only “a tiny number” of female trainees and “it is more dangerous” than other forms of competition.

Cameron has heard strange rationales for the exclusion of women before. “My favorite excuse that I’ve been told is that they won’t include it because they think women are too delicate,” she said. “And that they didn’t want us to hurt our precious hands and feet.”

Doug Fuechsel, a grand master who serves as the executive director of U.S. Hanmadang, said that officials plan to meet in August to discuss the matter. But their previous attempts at changing the policy have been frustrating. Fuechsel, who has trained in Seoul under a Korean national champion, has been teaching Tae Kwon Do since the nineteen-seventies. “When I heard about Sloane, I was outraged,” he said. “It’s ridiculous. She does the back kick, which is my signature kick. I’m forty years of teaching Tae Kwon Do and I can’t break eleven boards and I weigh one-sxity. She’s a world champion and that’s an amazing thing. She should be able to go to any venue and do that.” He added, “There should be no discrimination here.”

But for now, Cameron waits. “It is just a vast cultural divide,” she said. “They do not believe women can be strong and powerful. I have made it my mission to prove them wrong.”

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