Avon's Rajendran, 10, and Nickel, 8, Win Medals at Taekwondo National Championship

Two Avon elementary school students , part of the Junior Olympics, June 29 to July 4 in Dallas, TX.

Neahashirii Rajendran, 10, earned a silver medal in the forms event for her age group and Dylan Nickel, 8, got a silver in sparring. Both won bronze medals for  board breaking.

It was Rajendran's first trip to Junior Olympics and she was excited for the opportunity.

"Going to Junior Olympics was a whole new journey for me. This has been in my mind for the last 1 year," Rajendran wrote in an email to Patch. "My favorite has been the Poomsae or forms competition and I loved it. It was tough for me not to do the samething in the Nationals the way that I have practiced, as one of the rules was not to use chairs. However, I have managed to do my breaking technique the best as I can. And I came out with a silver medal. Poomsae was even tougher with single bracket elimination and heavy competition. I have won in three rounds to get a Bronze."

Rajendran and Nickel were two of 10 athletes that train at Olympic Taekwondo Academies in Unionville and Rocky Hill who medaled. The group, called Team Light of the World, took home 16 medals total.

"I am doing taekwondo at the Olympic Taekwondo Acadamy for the last two years. I love going to this school. I should thank Master Cho and Master Sunmi for making me prepared to go for this big event. It was lot of practice, work and fun," Rajendran said. "My learning does not stop with Forms and Breaking techniques; this sport teaches me confidence, focus, respect and lot more."