Janine Watson
{{short description|Australian taekwondo practitioner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Janine Watson
| image = Watson Janine 01 CC.jpg
| caption = Watson in 2019
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1981|6|04}}
| birth_place =
| height =
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's para taekwondo }}
{{MedalCountry | {{AUS}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games }}
{{MedalBronze | 2020 Tokyo | +58 kg }}
{{MedalCompetition | World Para Championships }}
{{MedalGold | 2015 Samsun | P34 Poomsae }}
{{MedalGold | 2017 London | P34 Poomsae }}
{{MedalGold | 2019 Antalya | P34 Poomsae }}
}}
Janine Watson (born 4 June 1981) is Australia's first taekwondo Paralympian. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's +58 kg event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.{{Cite news|last=Berkeley|first=Geoff|date=4 September 2021|title=Aziziaghdam claims comeback win as Naimova underlines talent with taekwondo gold|work=InsideTheGames.biz|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1112593/aziziaghdam-taekwondo-tokyo-paralympics|access-date=4 September 2021}}{{Cite web |date=29 June 2021 |title=History Made As Australia Names First Taekwondo Paralympian |url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/2021/06/history-made-as-australia-names-first-taekwondo-paralympian/ |access-date=19 June 2021 |website=Paralympics Australia}} She is also an Australian wheelchair tennis champion.
Personal
Watson was born on 4 June 1981. She grew up in a small rural town in south-western Queensland. At school, she played netball and tennis at state and then national levels. She completed a double degree in Exercise Science and Secondary Education.{{Cite web |date=27 May 2019 |title=Meet The Taekwando Champion Giving MS The Middle Finger |url=https://www.womenshealth.com.au/janine-watson-taekwando |access-date=29 June 2021 |website=Australian Women's Health}} At the age of 25, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She works full-time as Head of Department for Maths and Science at one of Brisbane's most prestigious schools.{{Cite web |title=Janine Watson |url=https://www.msqld.org.au/about-ms/stories-and-ambassadors/janine-watson/ |access-date=29 June 2021 |website=MS Queensland}}
Her philosophy is "Do what I can, as well as I can, for as long as I can".
Taekwondo
File:050921 Janine Watson bronze Tokyo KM edit.JPEG
After her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, she took up taekwondo and within nine months she had won her first Australian championships. Her major international results:{{Cite web |title=Janine Watson |url=https://austkd.com.au/uploads/docs/General/Athlete_Profiles/Janine_Watson.pdf |access-date=29 June 2021 |website=Taekwondo Australia}}
- 2014 Commonwealth Championship Scotland – Gold P34 para-poomsae
- 2015 World Para-taekwondo Championships Turkey – Gold P34 para-poomsae
- 2016 Oceania Championships Fiji – Gold P34 para-poomsae
- 2017 Oceania Championships New Zealand – Gold P34 para-poomsae
- 2017 World Para-taekwondo Championships England – Gold P34 para-poomsae
- 2019 World Para-taekwondo Championships Turkey – Gold P34 para-poomsae
In 2018, after a three-year break from kyorugi (sparring), she returned to the discipline, as it was included in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics program. Watson won Australia's first Paralympic taekwondo medal, claiming bronze in the Women's +58kg.
In 2023 she was presented with the Australian Sports Medal for her achievements in taekwondo.
Wheelchair tennis
She also took up wheelchair tennis after her diagnosis.{{Cite news |last=Polkinghorne |first=David |date=30 September 2018 |title=Watson aiming to be dual Paralympian in Tokyo |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/watson-aiming-to-be-dual-paralympian-in-tokyo-20180930-p506xj.html |access-date=29 June 2021}} She has won four consecutive Australian Singles Titles in Wheelchair Tennis in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.{{Cite web |title=Janine Watson |url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/athlete/janine-watson/ |access-date=29 June 2021 |website=Paralympics Australia|date=29 June 2021 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Paralympics Australia|janine-watson}}
- [https://austkd.com.au/uploads/docs/General/Athlete_Profiles/Janine_Watson.pdf Janine Watson] at Taekwondo Australia
- {{IPC|janine-watson}}
- [https://www.paralympic.org/tokyo-2020/athletes?individualId=a3cd2fb0-fb06-3581-a1e9-f8d13f826654 Janine Watson at the IPC Tokyo 2020 website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911144304/https://www.paralympic.org/tokyo-2020/athletes?individualId=a3cd2fb0-fb06-3581-a1e9-f8d13f826654 |date=11 September 2021 }}
- {{ITF|janine-watson/800548404/aus}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Janine}}
Category:Australian female taekwondo practitioners
Category:Australian female tennis players
Category:Australian wheelchair tennis players
Category:Paralympic taekwondo practitioners for Australia
Category:Paralympic wheelchair tennis players for Australia
Category:Paralympic medalists in taekwondo
Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia
Category:Taekwondo practitioners at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Category:People with multiple sclerosis