Rome held its breath as Kimi Laurène Ossin closed out the final second. On the mats of the Foro Italico, the fighter from Côte d'Ivoire beat China's Wenzhe Mu 4-2 to take the women's +67kg title at the Roma 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix. It was her first Grand Prix gold, and the biggest victory of a career still finding its ceiling.
How the final was won
Ossin set the terms early. She dominated the opening round against Mu, taking it 8-3 with the range and timing of a fighter certain of her plan. Mu was no ordinary opponent. The Chinese had won bronze in the +73kg class at the Wuxi 2025 World Championships and had claimed a Grand Prix Challenge title in Charlotte the year before. She came back hard in the second round, pressing for a way back into the contest. Ossin refused to yield the space. She managed the exchanges, absorbed the pressure and saw out the 4-2 win.
The path to the final had already tested her. In the semi-final she met Türkiye's Sude Yaren Uzunçavdar, the under-21 world champion, a European Championships runner-up and a Wuxi 2025 bronze medallist. Uzunçavdar arrived in form, having knocked out the reigning -73kg world champion and 2025 World Taekwondo Female Athlete of the Year, Sarah Chaâri of Belgium, in the quarter-finals. Ossin ended that run in two rounds. The performance carried the same composure she would later show against Mu: measured, patient, decisive when the point mattered.
A step in the trajectory
Rome was not a sudden arrival. Ossin announced herself on the senior stage at the Wuxi 2025 World Championships, where she took silver in the -73kg category. That result marked her as a talent to watch. In Rome she went one better, stepping up in weight and finishing the job. The silver became gold. The promise became a title.
The significance runs beyond one athlete. Côte d'Ivoire has a proud taekwondo history, but a Grand Prix crown in the heavyweight division adds a new line to it. Ossin took that step on one of the sport's largest stages, against a field stacked with world medallists and champions, and left with the top place.
For a fighter still early in her senior years, the manner of the win may matter as much as the medal. She led when ahead and held firm when tested. She beat opponents with deeper résumés and did it without drama. In Rome, on a day of rising stars, Kimi Laurène Ossin looked like someone who had decided the moment was hers.
One title now stands where none stood before.
