Bloomfield Martial Artist Fights For Olympic Dream

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — An Essex County martial artist has begun the march towards her goal of representing the USA in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. And if Abrielle Pinto’s prior success in the high-impact sport of taekwondo is any indication, her future opponents might want to prepare for a tough fight.

Pinto, a student at Universal Martial Arts (UMA) in Bloomfield, has amassed a vast list of local tournament wins, kicking her way to gold medal finishes at the New Jersey and New York state championship contests, the Big East Championships, the US Open Yong-in TaeKwonDo Championships, as well as a 2017 New Jersey State Sparring Champion title.

Her next mission? Training for the Junior Olympics tryouts in 2018.

Pinto secured a spot in the 2018 USA Taekwondo National Olympic team trials with a gutsy silver medal win at the 2017 USA Taekwondo National Championship held in Detroit last July. It's a victory that has her within a roundhouse kick of her Olympic dream.

• See related article: Bloomfield Martial Artists Show Fighting Spirit

The up-and-coming martial artist has launched an online fundraiser to help pay for specialized training and travel and lodging at Olympic Team Trials in Colorado Springs, CO, in January 2018. (Click here to make a donation)

Pinto said that her recent win in Detroit served as inspiration to push herself even further.

“As long as taekwondo is in my life it doesn’t matter what I do,” Pinto told Patch. “I find it to be very relaxing and just an amazing sport. It challenges me beyond my limits.”

Pinto encouraged others of all ages and body types to take up the art of taekwondo and put themselves to the test.

“It doesn’t matter what gender you are as long as you put the work and dedicate your time in achieving whatever goal you set,” Pinto said. “Male or female, that doesn’t matter because ultimately everyone has one objective.”

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Photos: Universal Martial Arts