# Panipak Wongpattanakit

Panipak "Tennis" Wongpattanakit (Thai: พาณิภัค วงศ์พัฒนกิจ; RTGS: Phaniphak Wongphatthanakit; born 8 August 1997) is a retired Thai taekwondo athlete. A two-time Olympic champion, she is currently the top-ranked athlete in the women's 49 kg.

## Early life

Born in Surat Thani in southern Thailand. Panipak is the youngest child of a family of three siblings. She lost her mother when she was young. Her father, a civil servant teacher, loved sports, so he nicknamed all his children after sports were Bowling, Baseball, and Tennis, respectively. Her elder sister (Bowling) and brother (Baseball) are also former swimmers.
Panipak started practicing taekwondo because she wanted to go to Phuket with her friend who was competing in taekwondo there. Her father allowed her to go but on the condition that she had to compete too. At that time, she was already practicing taekwondo but didn't pay any attention to it. She competed and lost every match. Then she started to take it seriously and eventually became a professional taekwondo athlete.

## Career

Panipak became a world champion at the 2015 World Taekwondo Championships, claiming a gold medal in the 46 kg event which was her first world title. She claimed a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the –49 kg class during her first Olympic appearance for Thailand. She nearly quit taekwondo out of frustration after the Olympics and took a brief break from the sport for about two months.
She claimed a bronze medal in the women's flyweight event at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships. She claimed her first Asian Games gold medal during the 2018 Asian Games in women's 49kg event. She won the gold medal in the women's flyweight event during the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships. She was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year by the World Taekwondo during the 2019 World Taekwondo Gala Awards.
She also represented Thailand at the 2020 Summer Olympics and claimed a gold medal in the women's 49kg event. This win also became the first Olympic gold medal win for Thailand in taekwondo. Panipak was also awarded Thailand's first and only gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
She won the silver medal in the women's flyweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan. At the Rome Grand Prix in June 2023, she won her tenth gold medal in the women's 49 kg event, making her the first athlete to do so.
In the 2024 Summer Olympics she won gold medal again in the women's taekwondo 49kg category, becoming the first Thai athlete to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals and the first Thai three consecutive Olympic medalist. Before the tournament, she announced that this would be her last match, as the training was too intense for her body.

## Personal life

After the 2024 Summer Olympics, she revealed that she was dating fellow taekwondo practitioner Ramnarong "Junior" Sawekwiharee but had to keep it a secret for 9 years because there was a rule that prohibited national athletes from being lovers.

## Career highlights

* Three-times Olympics Medalists (Gold: 2024, 2020 Bronze: 2016)
* Two-times World Champions (2019, 2015)
* Two-times Asian Games Gold Medals (2022, 2018)
* Youth Olympics Gold Medal (2014)

## Royal decorations

* 2020 – Companion (Third Class) of The Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn
* 2022 – Companion (Fourth Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand