Arlene Limas

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Arlene Limas (born February 9, 1966) is an American taekwondo athlete known for her many international wins. She is of Mexican and Polish descent and grew up in Chicago. Limas graduated from Whitney Young Magnet High School and studied political science at DePaul University, graduating in 1990.

She started training in Shaolin kung fu at age 5, then taekwondo at age 8. At 15, she competed in sport karate and earned the nickname “Lady Kung Fu.” She won the Diamond Nationals in 1983 and 1986 and was inducted into the Diamond Nationals Hall of Fame in 1989, famously rivaling Linda Denley.

Limas moved to taekwondo competition, taking first place at the 1986 US Collegiate National Taekwondo Championship and winning gold at the World University Taekwondo Championships. She also won the 1987 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship. Because she had been paid to fight in sport karate, she had to ask the International Olympic Committee for permission to compete in the 1988 Olympics, where taekwondo appeared as an exhibition sport. She made history as the first American to win a taekwondo gold medal at the Seoul Games.

Her later career included continued success: 1989 US Collegiate National Championship, 1990 gold at the World University Championships, and golds at the National Taekwondo Championships and the Pan American Taekwondo Championships. In 1991 she won the World Taekwondo Championships and first place at the US National Team Trials and the US Olympic Festival. Limas unsuccessfully challenged Danielle Laney for a spot on the 1992 Olympic team, then retired from competition in 1992 and opened Power Kix Martial Arts in Stafford, Virginia.

She returned in 1998 to win the US National Taekwondo Championship and remained hopeful for the 2000 Olympics, after winning the 1999 US National Team Trials, but she did not qualify and retired after 29 years in the sport. Limas is a member of the Taekwondo Hall of Fame and was inducted on June 20, 2019, into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in Michigan.