TAEKWONDO IN THE OLYMPICS
Universality means that all Taekwondo athletes can dream of an Olympic medal and have a chance to bring home their first ever Olympic medal for their country.
Taekwondo first appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. On September 4, 1994 during the 103rd IOC Session in Paris, Taekwondo was accepted as an official medal sport for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Taekwondo was then included in the official programme at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Taekwondo has been continuously evolving into a fair, exciting and media-friendly sport that has all the demands and expectations associated with Olympic events. During the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Taekwondo competition featured 128 athletes from 63 countries – the largest number of participating countries in Taekwondo’s Olympic history.
Taekwondo has continued to progress in both its technical and its operational aspects. WT has introduced a series of major changes to its competition rules, adopting cutting edge technologies and reinforcing the education of its referees and judges to further ensure complete fairness and transparency in the judging process, and enhance the sports dynamism and make it more appealing to the general audience.