Daria Tarasova

Daria Tarasova (born 6 July 1988) is a former competitive wushu taolu athlete and coach from Russia.^[1][2] She is the most renowned Russian wushu athlete of all time.

Daria Tarasova

Personal information
Native name	Дарья Тарасова
Born	(1988-07-06) 6 July 1988 (age 35) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Coach, martial artist, athlete
Sport
Sport	Wushu
Event(s)	Changquan, Daoshu, Gunshu
Team	Russian Wushu Team (2003-2015)
Coached by	Tatiana Kupriyanova
Medal record Representing  Russia Women's Wushu Taolu Olympic Games (unofficial) 2008 Beijing Changquan World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Changquan World Combat Games 2013 St. Petersburg All-around (CQ) World Championships 2003 Macau Gunshu 2007 Beijing Changquan 2003 Macau Changquan 2009 Toronto Changquan 2011 Ankara Gunshu 2015 Kuala Lumpur Gunshu 2007 Beijing Gunshu 2009 Toronto Daoshu 2011 Ankara Daoshu 2015 Kuala Lumpur Shuangjian

Career

Tarasaova made her international debut at the 2003 World Wushu Championships where she became the world champion in women's gunshu.

Tarasova's gold medal in the women's changquan event at the 2007 World Wushu Championships qualified her for the 2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament, where she also won in the same event.^[3][4] Shortly after, Tarasova was awarded the "Golden Belt" award by the Russian Martial Arts Federation.^[5] A year later, she won gold once again in the women's changquan event at the 2009 World Games where wushu was an invitational sport.^[6] She also won a bronze and silver medal at the 2009 World Wushu Championships. Tarasova also competed in the 2010 World Combat Games.^[7] The following year, she won another silver and bronze medal at the 2011 World Wushu Championships.

In 2012, Tarasova was appointed as the ambassador of wushu from the International Wushu Federation to the International Olympic Committee.^[8] Ahead of the 2013 World Combat Games, Tarasova was again appointed as the ambassador of wushu and promoted the sport throughout St. Petersburg.^[9] At the competition, Tarasova won the female changquan, jianshu, and qiangshu combined event despite never specializing in both weapons.^[10] A year later, she was invited to demonstrate at the Nanjing Sports Lab, a promotional event for non-Olympic sports, which took place alongside the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.^[11] Her last competition was at the 2015 World Wushu Championships where she won a silver medal in gunshu and a bronze medal in shuangjian. She ended her career while also having been a nineteen-time champion at the European Wushu Championships.^[10]

In 2013, Tarasova became a member of the IWUF's athlete committee^[12] and in 2021, was elected to be the committee's chairman and an executive board member of the IWUF.^[13] Today, she is a coach of the Russian Wushu Team.

Tarasova holds the rank of "4th duan" by the Chinese Wushu Association.^[14]

References

1. . The official website of the BEIJING 2008 Olympic Games. Archived from the original on 16 September 2008.
2. "Olympedia – Darya Tarasova". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
3. "Four golds carved up at Wushu Worlds – china.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
4. "Olympedia – Changquan, Women". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
5. "Дарья Тарасова: после Всемирных игр хотела взять паузу, но сейчас об отдыхе нет и речи". РОССИЙСКИЙ СОЮЗ БОЕВЫХ ИСКУССТВ (in Russian). 5 March 2014. from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
6. "World Games 2009, Wushu – Taolu Women's Changquan". results.worldgames2009.tw. from the original on 13 February 2013.
7. "Daria Tarasova of Russia competes in women's Wushu chang quan on day..." Getty Images. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
8. "Дарья Тарасова выбрана Олимпийским послом ушу!". ДЕПАРТАМЕНТА СПОРТА ГОРОДА МОСКВЫ (in Russian). from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
9. "Wushu IWuF Magazine (2014)". Issuu. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
10. "An interview with Daria Tarasova, PART 2". Wushu Sport TV. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
11. "Wushu Makes Pitch for Olympic Inclusion at YOG". aroundtherings.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
12. "Committees". IWUF. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
13. "Virtual IWUF Athletes' Committee Meeting 2021 Successfully Held, Daria Tarasova Elected as the Chairman, and Enters the IWUF Executive Board". International Wushu Federation. 14 May 2021. from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
14. "Интервью с Дарьей Тарасовой по итогам Чемпионата Европы по ушу". РОССИЙСКИЙ СОЮЗ БОЕВЫХ ИСКУССТВ (in Russian). 2013. from the original on 17 November 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.