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Pai Yun-yao

Pai Yun-yiao
Personal information
NationalityTaiwanese
Born (1969-03-14) 14 March 1969 (age 55)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
Medal record
Representing  Chinese Taipei
Women's taekwondo
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1987 Barcelona Flyweight
Silver medal – second place 1989 Seoul Flyweight

Pai Yun-yiao (Chinese: 白允瑤; pinyin: Bái Yǔnyáo; born 14 March 1969), also known as Elva Adams, is a Taiwanese taekwondo practitioner.[1]

Early life and education

Pai was born in Taipei, Taiwan on March 14, 1969.[1][2] She began training in taekwondo when she was 13 years old under coach Raymond Hsu.[1] After two years, she earned her black belt and soon started competing in international tournaments representing Chinese Taipei.[1]

In the early 1990s, Pai moved to the United States and attended University of Texas at San Antonio using the money she had earned from winning taekwondo competitions.[1] She graduated in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in accounting.[1]

Career

Pai won a bronze medal at the 1986 Asian Taekwondo Championships.[3] She won a gold medal in flyweight at the 1987 World Taekwondo Championships in Barcelona. Pai won a bronze medal in women's flyweight at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, where taekwondo debuted at the Olympics as a demonstration sport.[3][4] She won a silver medal at the 1989 World Taekwondo Championships, after being defeated by Won Sun-jin in the final.[2]

As of 2016, Pai works as vice president of business banking at Wells Fargo.[1][3] She remains active in the international taekwondo community as a referee, coach, and poomsae competitor. At the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she became the first female international referee from the United States to officiate taekwondo.[3] She currently serves as an international referee for World Taekwondo.[5] She coached the United States women's taekwondo team at the 2014 World Taekwondo Championships in Mexico, where they won bronze.[3] In 2016, she won the silver medal for Woman's Team Over 30 at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Lima, Peru.[3] In February 2024, Pai was appointed president of Kombat Taekwondo's central United States region.[5]

Personal life

Pai is a naturalized American citizen.[3] She resides in San Antonio, Texas.[3]

Pai married her coach, Raymond Hsu, at age 17.[3] They have since separated.[3] As of 2016, Pai's romantic partner is Team USA Taekwondo coach Brian Singer.[3]

Pai has two children.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Meet a Roadrunner: Elva Adams '95 is an Olympic Taekwondo Champion". www.utsa.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  2. ^ a b "Pai, Yun-yiao". taekwondodata.com. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "[World Taekwondo] Elva Pai Adams: Taekwondo - 360 Degrees". m.worldtaekwondo.org. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  4. ^ "Olympedia – Taekwondo at the 1988 Summer Olympics". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  5. ^ a b "Elva Adams appointed president of Kombat Taekwondo USA Central Region". MASTKD. 2024-02-20. Retrieved 2024-06-25.


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