Taekwondo, also spelled tae kwon do or taekwon-do, is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving punching and kicking techniques. The literal translation for taekwondo is "kicking", "punching", and "the art or way of". It sometimes involves the use of weapons.
World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
The European Taekwondo Union (ETU) or World Taekwondo Europe (WTE) is the official governing body for all Taekwondo matters in Europe as a regional organisation of World Taekwondo. It comprises the National Taekwondo Federations of all the European member nations and regulates all Taekwondo matters on a continental basis. The first participating countries in the ETU were Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Denmark and the UK. The first president was Antonio Garcia de la Fuente. The First European Championships of the ETU were held in Barcelona on May 22–23, 1976. After being considered only a demonstration sports event twice - in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 - the WTF style - was incorporated as a full Olympic discipline in Sydney in 2000. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was announced that European Taekwondo Union will not recognise taekwondo events organised in Russia and Belarus, and will not host events in either country.
The European Taekwondo Championships are the European senior championships in Taekwondo, first held in Barcelona in 1976. The event is held every two years and is organized by the European Taekwondo Union, the continental affiliate of World Taekwondo, which organises and controls Olympic style taekwondo. An additional event, the G4 Extra European Taekwondo Championships were exceptionally held in 2019.
Turkey Taekwondo Federation is the governing body of Taekwondo sport in Turkey. Originally, it was formed in 1968 within the Turkey Judo Federation, where it maintained its activities thirteen years long. In 1981, it was disconnected from the Judo Federation and became a separate organization under the governmental Directorate General of Youth and Sports. The headquarters is located in Ulus quarter of Ankara. It is a member of the European Taekwondo Union (ETU).
Metin Şahin is a European champion Turkish former taekwondo practitioner, who serves as the president of the Turkey Taekwondo Federation since 2003.Also In 2019, He was appointed dean to the Faculty of Sport Sciences at Selçuk University.
European Taekwondo Junior Championships is a European bienal championship organized for juniors age category by European Taekwondo Union, first held in 1978. The event is contested every two years.
Nafia Kuş Aydın is a world and European champion Turkish female taekwondo practitioner competing in the heavyweight division. She won the gold medal in the women's heavyweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Para taekwondo is an adaptation of taekwondo for disabled sportspeople. The sport's main governing body is World Taekwondo (WT). New disciplines such as kyorugi and poomsae, both martial arts forms, have been developed for para-athletes. On January 31, 2017, Para Taekwondo was confirmed as a sport for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) General Assembly the same year the WT became a full member of the IPC.
Israel competed at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 October to 18 October 2018.
The 1978 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Barcelona Spain between May 22 and 23, 1976 under the organization of the European Taekwondo Union (ETU) and the Spanish Federation of Taekwondo. The competition was held at the Palau Blaugrana.
The German Taekwondo Union is the largest taekwondo association in Germany. It is a member of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.
The 1980 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Esbjerg Denmark between October 14 and 17, 1980 under the organization of the European Taekwondo Union (ETU).
The 2006 European Taekwondo Championships were held in Bonn, Germany. The event held from 26 to 28 May 2006. The title matches were organized by the European Taekwondo Union (ETU). A total of 16 competitions were held, eight each for women and men in different weight classes.
Vatican Taekwondo is the official governing body for the sport of taekwondo in the Vatican City.
Eva Eun-Kyung Sandersen is a Danish taekwondo athlete and reigning World Poomsae champion.
The taekwondo competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are scheduled to run from 7 to 10 August at the Grand Palais strip. 128 taekwondo fighters, with an equal distribution between men and women, will compete across eight different weight categories at the Games, the same amount as the previous editions since Beijing 2008. Each weight category is composed of sixteen taekwondo fighters; however, this figure may increase if additional athletes are invited and selected from the Refugee Olympic Team.
Taekwondo competitions at the 2023 European Games were held between 23 and 26 June 2023 at the Krynica-Zdrój Arena in Krynica-Zdrój. Taekwondo returned to the European Games for the second time, after being part of the inaugural edition at Baku 2015, and the G4 grading of the competition meant that ranking points won by athletes counted for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification.
The men's 63 kg competition at the 2024 European Taekwondo Championships was held on 9 May 2024.
The women's 73 kg competition at the 2024 European Taekwondo Championships was held on 9 May 2024.
