Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the opponents. In most sports that use it, welterweight is heavier than lightweight but lighter than middleweight.
World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is the international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The body was renamed in June 2017 to avoid the "negative connotations" of the previously used initials WTF. World Taekwondo was established on May 28, 1973 at its inaugural meeting held at the Kukkiwon with participation of 35 representatives from around the world. There are now 208 member nations. Since 2004, Choue Chung-won has been the president of World Taekwondo, succeeding the first president, Kim Un-yong. On July 17, 1980 the International Olympic Committee recognized World Taekwondo at its 83rd Session in Moscow, Soviet Union. First, Taekwondo was adopted as a demonstration sport of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea; later, on September 4, 1994 Taekwondo was adopted as an official Sport of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at the 103rd IOC Session in Paris, France. According to World Taekwondo,
Taekwondo is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, that teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official games in the Olympics.
Sambo is a Soviet martial art and combat sport. It originated in the Russian SFSR in Soviet Union. The word "SAMBO" is a portmanteau for samozashchita bez oruzhiya, which literally translates as "self-defence without weapons". Sambo is relatively modern, since its development began in the early 1920s by the Soviet Red Army to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities. It was intended to be a merger of the most effective techniques of other martial arts.
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent or by disabling the opponent. Common combat sports include mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, fencing, savate, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Sanda, Tae Kwon Do, Capoeira, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, HMB, Sambo, Kyokushin, and Kūdō, sometimes even Ninjutsu.
Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics made its first appearance as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The opening ceremony featured a mass demonstration of taekwondo with hundreds of adults and children performing moves in unison. Taekwondo was again a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Taekwondo became a full medal sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and has been a sport in the Olympic games since then.
Jade Louise Jones MBE is a British taekwondo athlete who represents Great Britain. She is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in the women's 57 kg category. In 2012, she won Britain's first taekwondo Olympic gold medal in this category. Jones was at the time the reigning Youth Olympic champion in the girls' 55 kg category, winning gold for Great Britain in 2010
The World Combat Games are an international multi-sport event featuring combat sports and martial arts. Fifteen Olympic and non-Olympic sports are currently on the programme: aikido, boxing, fencing, judo, ju-jitsu, karate, kendo, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Pankration, sambo, savate, sumo, taekwondo, wrestling and wushu.
The first World Combat Games were held in Beijing, China, from August 28 to September 4, 2010. 136 gold medals were vied for by 1,108 competitors from all five continents.
Sports in Somalia are regulated by the Ministry of Sports of Somalia. The government ministry works closely with the Somali Olympic Committee and various sports governing bodies, including the Somali Football Federation. The first person of Somali descent to win an Olympic medal was Buuhoodlian Mohamed Suleiman. The athlete with the highest amount of Somali national records is Las Anodian Abdi Bile. Bile, who holds nine national records, is Somalia's most decorated athlete in history.
Ismaël Coulibaly is a Malian taekwondo practitioner who mainly fights in the lightweight division. Coulibaly represented Mali at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he competed in the men's 80kg competition. He was Mali's flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympics. He has also competed in three World Taekwondo Championships, a World Taekwondo Grand Prix and two African Games. He has won multiple World Championship medals and multiple medals in African regional competitions.
Taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 17 to 20 August at the Carioca Arena 3 inside the Barra Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca. Around 128 taekwondo fighters competed in eight weight categories; four for men, and four for women.
Russia competed at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, in Nanjing, China from 16 August to 28 August 2014.
Anastasia Valueva is a Russian taekwondo practitioner.
Muay Thai, for the 2013 World Combat Games was held at the Yubileiny - Sports Complex, 'Yubileiny' Hall, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Preliminary rounds were done on the 19 and 21 October 2013. All the medal events was held on 23 October 2013.
Kickboxing, for the 2013 World Combat Games were held at the Yubileiny - Sports Complex 'Yubileiny' Halls 1 and 2 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The preliminary rounds took place on 21 and 23 October 2013. Medals were awarded on the 25 October 2013.
Savate, for the 2013 World Combat Games, took place at the Sports Complex 'Yubileiny' Hall 2, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The medals were awarded on the 20 and 22 October 2013. Also, these Games marked the debut of this sport because it was not contested in the inaugural 2010 WCG. This sport was demonstrated at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 2015 World Taekwondo Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Taekwondo Championships, and were held in Chelyabinsk, Russia from May 12 to May 18, 2015. The decision to award the games to Russia was made in 2013 as they out-voted both Vietnam and Brazil.
Taekwondo at the Pacific Games has been contested since 1995 when it was introduced for the tenth edition at Papeete, Tahiti. Women's taekwondo was added in 1999 for the games held in Guam.
