Paige McPherson

Paige Arielle "McFierce" McPherson (born October 1, 1990, in Abilene, Texas) is an Olympic taekwondo competitor from the United States.^[1][2]

Paige McPherson

McPherson in 2012
Personal information
Born	(1990-10-01) October 1, 1990 (age 34) Abilene, Texas
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	67 kg (148 lb)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Taekwondo
Event	Welterweight (67 kg)
Coached by	Juan Moreno
Medal record Representing  United States Women's Taekwondo Summer Olympics 2012 London 67 kg World Championships 2017 Muju 67 kg 2015 Chelyabinsk 67 kg Grand Prix 2018 Taoyuan 67 kg 2017 Moscow 67 kg 2017 London 67 kg Pan American Games 2015 Toronto 67 kg 2011 Guadalajara 67 kg 2019 Lima 67 kg Pan American Championships 2008 Caguas 67 kg 2016 Queretaro 67 kg 2018 Spokane 67 kg 2014 Aguascalientes 67 kg
Updated on 19 September 2018

Biography

Early life and education

McPherson grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota.^[3] She and four other siblings were adopted by Susan and Dave McPherson.^[4] Her biological family includes an older brother and two half-siblings.^[5] She is of African American and Filipino descent.^[6] She graduated from Black Hills Classical Christian Academy in 2009 and then went on to attend Miami-Dade College.^[7]

Career

McPherson was a silver medalist at the 2011 Pan Am Games.^[8]

She represented the USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women’s 67 kg taekwondo event and in the preliminary round secured a surprise defeat over Team GB's Sarah Stevenson.^[9] McPherson went on to win a bronze medal by defeating Franka Anić of Slovenia, 8-3.^[10]

After winning a gold medal in the 2016 Pan American Games McPherson was selected to represent the United States as a member of the Team USA Taekwondo Team in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.^[11] At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she lost her first match against Farida Azizova.^[2]

She has qualified to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[12]

Personal life

McPherson is of African-American and Filipino descent.^[13]