Guillermo Cortés, a taekwondo practitioner, became a world champion.

Taekwondo athlete Guillermo Cortés recently became the world champion in the cadet category, and Sofia, Bulgaria, was the venue where he was crowned as the best in the world and to achieve it, he had to defeat the mighty Korean power in the final of the under 41-kilogram category.

"I feel very happy, I can't believe it. The key was to train every day. Stepping onto the podium and listening to the National Anthem is something inexplicable. The fights against Korea and Thailand were very difficult, very good," said Cortés, who was also named the best male athlete in the world competition.

Cortés, better known as Kato by his family and friends, started practicing taekwondo in 2013 and since he was seven years old, he imagined he would be a world champion.

"Since I was little, I liked taekwondo because I saw my brother training. My first goal was to make it to the National Team since my dad was part of the National Team, and now my brother is also selected," said the taekwondo athlete, who considers his brother as his idol.

Guillermo is a seven-time national champion and has held the top spot in the national ranking since 2018, so his participation in this World Championship, where he defeated high-demand opponents to reach the top of the podium, was imminent.

In Sofia, Bulgaria, Cortés advanced to the first round with a bye after arriving as the top seed, and in the next stage, he eliminated American Reian Jon Challoy. Then in the round of 16, he defeated Spaniard Marcos Pazos, and in the quarterfinals, he defeated Egyptian Mohamed Wessam. In the semifinal, he got rid of Thai Purich Madsaman, and in the final, he defeated Korean Donggun Lee.

Now Cortés enjoys this moment of glory, but he is aware that time does not stop and now he must prepare to make the transition to the junior category. "Now we have to keep training and now we go for that Junior World Championship," he said.