DiGregorio is taekwondo world champion
By: Justin Feil
Derek DiGregorio has a good problem.
"I have a lot of trophies in my room," said the 9-year-old Princeton resident. "I’m running out of room to put them all."
DiGregorio picked up three medals and three trophies at the 2007 American Taekwondo Association World Championships that ended Sunday in Little Rock, Ark. Two of those medals were for first-place finishes in weapons and sparring and one was for second in forms in the Boys Special Abilities, ages 12-and-under division at the World Championships on Thursday and Friday. He won the three trophies at the Triple A Tournament, giving him a great start to the next taekwondo season.
"It made me feel good," said DiGregorio, who has been studying taekwondo for more than seven years.
He can add to his growing collection three world championship medals as well as three trophies nearly as tall as he is. The medals and trophies are a testament to his resolve to overcome the effects of cerebral palsy.
"He started competing in tournaments when he was 6," said his mother, Nadia. "Then we did most of them around New Jersey. This is the first time he really traveled to go do something.
"He’s been state champ the last three years, always in 12-and-under. Even when he was 6, he was the 12-and-under champion. He gives everything he’s got. Sometimes he has to be carried off the mat."
Susan Winter she had more students as willing to give their all as DiGregorio is. Winter is his instructor at Princeton ATA Black Belt Academy.
"He’s a great example," she said. "He works harder than anyone in the school. He has many more struggles than anyone and he doesn’t let him stop him. He’s got his second degree black belt. That shows his perseverance. I feel lucky to have him."
Cerebral palsy affects DiGregorio’s endurance and his balance, but it hasn’t stopped him from being a dedicated student at Princeton ATA Black Belt Academy. He got an early start under the tutelage of Winter.
"She was so wonderful getting him involved," Nadia said. "She let him go in the class when was young. He was 2, so the older kids would get on their knees to spar with him. The youngest she had at the time were 5- and 6-year-olds."
DiGregorio has been bringing opponents to their knees as he has grown up. But even his accomplishments at the world championships were a bit of a surprise.
"I had hoped he would win weapons and form," Winter said. "We worked intensely on weapons and form. He caught us off guard with sparring."
He also used to play soccer and still enjoys kicking the ball around with his brothers, Zachary who is two years older than he is, and Aaron, who is a year younger than Derek. His brothers also take taekwondo and are also active in other sports.
"He wants to play other sports," Nadia said. "His older brother is in districts (baseball). His other brother is a year younger and plays soccer. Derek had to stop playing in second grade when the other kids got a little bigger. He doesn’t have the stamina. Taekwondo is his main thing. And he’s barely 50 pounds."
But at 50 pounds, Derek DiGregorio certainly has shown the ability to use every ounce of strength to become a world champion. As the middle child, he has had to battle his other brothers, and he has put those survival skills to use in taekwondo competition.
"We’re extremely proud of him," said Nadia of she and husband, Steve. "He works so hard at everything he does. He wants so desperately to be like every other kid. He will go until he can’t. He once fell and knocked his teeth out. He fell and broke his arm once. He won’t quit. His muscles will."
DiGregorio cannot attend school for a full day because of his condition. With cerebral palsy, he has to consciously think about tightening his trunk muscles to keep himself upright. Doing so all day can be exhausting. His muscles held up just fine against nine other competitors from around the globe in his first trip to the world championships, though it wasn’t easy.
"They go until someone scores five points," Nadia explained. "He was sparring a kid and spotted him two points. Then he fell so hard that everyone looked that hadn’t seen him fall before. The rest of us have seen and heard it. Then he got up and scored five straight points. He’s all heart."
Not bad for a weekend in which the DiGregorio family barely made it on time for the competition. After a cancelled flight, he arrived at the taekwondo convention just 15 minutes before his first weapons competition.
Derek DiGregorio is glad that he made it. He didn’t want to miss out on becoming a world champion, and further decorating his ever-shrinking room with medals and trophies. In the next year, he hopes to add several more.
Said Winter: "I think he’ll continue to do well because he wants to. If you have that drive, you can do it. He epitomizes that. There’s no can’t in his vocabulary."

